Puppet Master
by Black Rebellious
Summary: Oh man...how long has it been? Too long. But thanks for all those who are STILL reading this!! Darky fic with twists.
1. Heero's Madness

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master Chapter One

Heero's Madness

Duo glanced up nervously as Heero walked through the back door and into the huge kitchen. Keeping his eyes down and his mind off of the strange nervousness crawling in his belly, Duo finished the pizza slice he was eating and gave Heero a quick glance. The pilot's back was turned to him and his body was covered in under a thick trench coat.

It had been over two weeks since anyone had seen or heard anything of the cold solider. Not that it had been the first time Heero had simply vanished in the night; sometimes he'd be gone for days and even weeks at a time only to show up one morning, cloaked in his trenchcoat without a word of where he'd been. When he came back, Heero would usually hole up in the room Quatra had given him and refused to come out. Even Wufei walked quietly near Heero's door during those times. The first time Heero reappeared without a word, one of the maids had accidentally entered his room, thinking him still gone. Her body was found three days later in the closet, tied up, beaten and scarred badly. Luckily, she lived but left the next day, refusing to tell anything about what'd happened.

The past few days, Duo, Quatra and even Wufei had gathered together to discuss Heero's behavior. None wanted to straight-out face him-even Wufei had ignored his burning pride when he told them that he wasn't willing to confront the cobalt-eyed solider. Quatra was still angry about what Heero had done to the maid while Trowa remained quiet, refusing to attend. Each had noticed that every time Heero returned, he became more hostile, emitting a malicious feeling much more venomous than during the war.

The pilots were living in a huge, mountain mansion that had been abandoned years before. It had once been furnished and was still livable, if a bit musty. Thanks to Quatra, the deserted house was soon turned into a beautiful home. Quatra had paid to have the floor's old yellow carpet removed and replaced it with shining wood floor except in the main receiving hall where pure white carpet was instated. Large wooden beds were bought for each of the pilots and their individual rooms were decorated each to the pilot's own taste. Huge chandeliers were hung over the other recreation rooms, many made out of beautiful crystal. The walls were repainted to become the white they'd originally been and huge wall-hangings hung over them. The windows were cleaned and occasionally replaced until the once forlorn looking house became an elegant mansion home to all five pilots.

Heero had lived in the home for barely a week before leaving. Each day he had become more withdrawn and seemed more tortured about some hidden matter. Trowa had watched with a knowing and somber expression while Wufei hardly noticed, too busy with his new command as Preventer "Dragon." Quatra was visited nearly constantly by his sisters and Duo was hanging out with Hilde so none but Trowa noticed Heero's strange demeanor until he'd left. At the time, none of them-excepting Trowa- had paid much attention to Heero's departure, each believing he'd return soon. After he'd been gone for nearly a week, Quatra began looking around and eventually everyone else added his own effort to the search. 

That's when they'd first entered his room. The other pilots had garnished their rooms but Heero seemed to have left it the way they'd first found it. Thick, dust-covered black drapes blocked the windows and there was dust everywhere except for a small desk in the corner. Wufei had automatically assumed the desk to be the place where Heero had used his computer but there was nothing in the room, no markings, fingerprints or even footmarks, that would betray Heero's previous presence. If they didn't know better, the teen pilots would have believed the room void of all occupants for many years. Besides that, nothing could be found anywhere in the room that would connect a living person to the chamber. Duo told them with a cheerful smile that it was because Heero was use to being followed by OZ or someone, the effective way he'd covered his tracks was just a reflex. Trowa had shook his head, arguing that Heero never did anything without some purpose behind the action.

For the next six months, Heero came and went in a quiet yet dominant manner. He rarely talked to anyone and the one time someone had tried to follow him, the trail was lost within fifteen minutes. Quatra would have been willing to let Heero continue on like that but the violent manner Heero treated anyone who bothered him was unacceptable. The Arabian boy was the most distressed about Heero's character. Wufei was more than willing to let it go and Duo wasn't willing to take judgement on his 'friend.' The whole time, Trowa seemed to watch Heero with an awareness none of the others had and refused to be a part of any discussions about the solider.

At the moment, Duo cursed his luck at being the first one to confront him. He waited in silence a few minutes as Heero searched through the cupboards for something Duo couldn't see and then cleared his throat noisily. Forcing a friendly smile, the American pilot said cheerfully, "Hey, Heero. How's it going? Haven't seen 'ya in awhile."

Heero didn't reply but stopped searching, pulling something out of a drawer and applying it to his skin.

Duo's smile faltered but stayed plastered on his face. "So, where've you been hiding, huh? We were getting kind of worried, you know. What with you just disappearing again. Relena even called to talk to you-"

Heero's body stiffened noticeably at the mention of Relena's name. He finished applying whatever it was to his face in stiff jerky movements and than turned his head to face the other pilot. Bloodshot Prussian met cheerful azure. Duo breathed in sharply as he saw the damage on Heero's face. There was a long, jagged cut running from the corner of Heero's left eye that ran halfway down his cheek and a two cuts crossed on his right cheek, forming a broken cross. Various other smaller cuts marked his face but those three were the only ones that would form scars. Another cut formed at the bottom tip of Heero's right ear and ran a shredded course down his neck, going beyond sight. Here and there blood still ran freely and Duo caught a glimpse of what Heero had been using-a bloody rag was clenched in his right fist.

Since he'd first began leaving, Heero had traded in his traditional green tank top and black spandex shorts for a pair of long, baggy pants that were as black as midnight and a black tank top. Over them Heero also wore a heavy and long trench coat and he had also begun wearing leather gloves with the fingers cut off to give the user a better grip. His usually unruly brown hair had grown a bit, now reaching his shoulders. With his new scars and the murderous look in his eyes, Heero looked like an outlaw or assassin, especially in the dim evening lights.

Duo could hardly stop himself from staring. There was no way anyone could have done this to Heero and still live. The fact that anyone could do this to a Gundam Pilot was more than a little unbelievable and Duo found it hard to believe that Heero had suffered from such a grievous injury. "Heero…what happened?" Duo asked concernedly. He began to step forward but found himself staring down the receiving end of the gun Heero had just pulled out.

"What do you want?" Heero's cold monotone asked, chilling Duo to the bone. Heero didn't seem to notice or care about the blood freely flowing down the sides of his face.

"I-I wanna help. I mean, we're buddies, right? And buddies gotta stick together…Heero, what did this?"

Heero icy face stared at him a moment more and flickered slightly to something behind the chestnut-hair pilot. For a moment, nothing moved but than Heero's shoulder began to shake slightly. Soon, an uncontrollable tremor was racking his body and his face tipped down. Dark drown hair hid his face from view.

Duo watched in shock and began moving forward. A single click from Heero's still upright gun stopped him and Duo watched helplessly as Heero continued swaying slightly.

A while later, cruel and condemning laughter erupted from Heero's stained lips. Head still down, Heero asked quietly, "Friends? Help me?"

Duo nodded earnestly. "Yea, man. We're all here if you gatta unload some of the stuff in your head. That's what friends are for, and we're all friends."

Heero straightened and looked Duo in the eye. In the depths of his cobalt eyes burned a fire of hatred and loathing with such an intensity Duo's breath was taken away. "Help me?" he questioned again but this time his voice was full of repulsion. "You cannot help me in the least." His eyes weren't focused on Duo but something behind him. "I was wrong to come back. I will not draw near here again," Heero hissed angrily but Duo couldn't tell whether his anger was directed at Duo or himself. Heero began backing away towards the door he came from.

From behind Duo a gun was fired. Heero easily dodged the bullet and sprang out the door. Duo whirled around to see Wufei nearly crashing into him. The Chinese ignored the American and followed Heero, a tranquilizer in his hand. Duo nearly collapsed from relief as he saw Trowa and Quatra also walk into the overlarge kitchen.

Quatra walked to the door and shook his head sadly. Turning to the other two, he said, "It's raining. We'll never catch Heero at this rate."

Duo stuttered, "C-catch? Why are you guys shooting at Heero? What's going on?"

Quatra smiled sorrowfully. "We have reason to believe that Heero is or will soon become a threat to the peace of the colonies and to the Earth for that matter. For that reason, we are trying to figure out whether he truly is. We wouldn't have shot at him had he not shown any violence but you saw how he acted. We had no choice.?

"What's this 'we' stuff you're talking about? Are you in with this Trowa? I know Wufei is but I'm not. And what evidence are you talking about or have you forgotten that Heero was practically raised to protect the peace of the colonies and of Earth?"

Quatra began to answer but Trowa raised his hand and stepped forward. "You are correct. Heero was raised to protect peace. But the way he protects it is in the battles and wars he fought. He was raised with the belief that there will always be a war to be fought for the peace of the colonies. Heero's mentor and instructor, Doctor J., never thought that the war would be over, at least not in Heero's lifetime, and therefore left out anything that Heero was to do in peacetime."

Duo rubbed the back of his head to hide his still quivering hand. The fear from the encounter with Heero was still affecting him more than he'd care to admit. "I've faced death head-on thousands of times. Why'd Heero scare me so much when nothing else did?' He scrowled. 'It's because you know what he's capable of when he's angry or ordered to do something and he was not someone you want to face…'

Duo shivered and hid the thought. "So what? The wars over and we all survived it just fine-even Wufei. Why is Heero the only one going psycho?"

Quatra broke in. "It's not that simple. I mean, none of us were trained as extensively as Heero. I know that I didn't begin my training until ten years ago, spending the first seven years of my life with my family. Trowa was first picked to be a pilot only three years ago and Wufei was first trained only five years ago. You-"

Duo smiled. "Yea, I was in the orphanage. I got ten years of training behind me."

Quatra nodded. "That's what we mean. Heero was practically born into this life. We all had some other life before being forced into the war but fighting's the only life Heero's ever known."

"What do you mean, 'born into it?' Heero's has to have been picked like the rest of us"

Trowa shook his head. "When we first met, I did some research on all of you. Everyone was picked except for me and Heero. I volunteered to pilot Heavy Arms and Heero was selected from a dozen different pregnancies. He was allowed three months with his birth mother before being forced into the program. His mother wasn't willing to let him go so she was killed with the other nominees to prevent any evidence. Since that time, Heero was trained to be the perfect solider in every aspect-technology, flight, strategic planning, anything militaristic including hand-to-hand combat and martial training.

"Does Heero know about his mom?" Duo asked, already dreading the answer.

Quatra looked out the window. "If we could find that out, it is safe to assume that Heero's known about it for some time. Probably since he was a child."

"Jeez," Duo muttered.

"When the war ended and after Mari-Maya's attack, the Gundams were officially destroyed. Even Wufei self-destructed his Gundam. With the colonies and Earth putting away their weapons, we pilots believed that we too could put down our weapons-the Gundams-and begin living the life we would and should have lived, had there not been a war. However, Heero, with his training, was a weapon," Quatra finished.

"What do you mean?"

Trowa shook his head. "Heero faced wars many times worse than the one we've fought during his training. He was only about five years old when they first had him kill. It is as though his human emotions and feelings were destroyed and replaced with indifference and obedience. If he was only five, the type of training he underwent is beyond our reasoning. Heero was brought up so he'd be perfect in everything but he was also taught to follow his orders completely. If Dr. J. had ordered him to kill any one of us, he would have done it without a second thought."

"But it's worse," Quatra continued. "Heero is slowly undoing himself during these times of peace. He was never taught that such a time would come and is now trying to deal with it as one would deal with something completely against one's teachings. His condition is worsening daily."

"What are you saying?" Duo asked incredulously. "Is Heero going mad or something?"

"Well, that is one of the more predictable ways Heero may deal with this situation. During the year between the first major war and the skirmish we had with Marie-Maya, the only reason Heero didn't change was because he helped the Preventers…"

"And Relena kicked him out, didn't she?" Duo's eyes narrowed at Relena's name, remembering Heero's reaction.

Quatra nodded. "It's not common knowledge. Few people, no matter what we did for them, would allow us teens to help prevent wars. Wufei is working under the designation of 'in-training' for his missions with Sally, so the older Preventers don't get suspicious."

"WHY?!? WHY DID SHE FIRE HIM?"

Trowa looked at Duo. "She told him that she believed that he'd done more than his share in the fight for peace -"

"Well is that isn't the understatement of the year," Duo muttered.

"-and that he didn't need to help with the Preventers. Most of the Preventers know exactly who Heero is and are more than afraid of him. Before Marie-Maya, the Preventers Unit was much smaller than it is now. Relena probably didn't want to scare off potential allies."

Quatra shook his head in disagreement. "I think that Miss Relena stopped Heero from being a Preventer because she thought it would be for the better. She must have wanted to help him after what he did for her in both wars and discharging him to prevent Heero from having to relive his life of fighting is what she must have had in mind."

"Yeah, she did a lot of good," Duo remarked sarcastically. He sighed. "So, what other 'ways' might Heero deal with this peace time stuff?"

Trowa began to leave the kitchen. He stopped at the open wall that served as a doorway between the kitchen the hall leading towards the pilots' rooms. "He may do many things. I believe that the top three possibilities are that he goes insane, he kills himself or…"

"Wait! Why would Heero kill himself?"

Quatra shrugged. "Why else? Heero knows he can't live in peacetime the way he currently is. He'll see himself as a threat to the peace he was raised to protect and he'll remove that threat before it harms the colonies."

Duo scratched the back of his head, attempting to digest everything the two other pilots had told him. "…and the last way?"

Trowa began walking again. "The most likely one, with his current condition. Heero never actually destroyed Wing Zero."

Duo's eyes went wide. "What?!?"

"Add the fact that's Heero's mental condition is worsening and it's a powerful combination. The way Heero's acting, he'd be a perfect target to anyone who knew how to deal with him. If they told him the right information, Heero would follow them without question-just like the way he followed his orders from Dr. J.. Imagine the possible power that person could gain if they had Heero completely loyal to them with the power of Wing Zero and its unique system behind them." Trowa walked down the hall. "Without out own Gundams, that sort of alliance could prove fatal to the peace of the Earth and colonies."

"Well, what do we?" Duo asked.

Quatra sighed. "What can we do? If we can't deal with this problem on our own, the Preventers Unit will hear about it soon. I've heard that Zechs will be coming in for a refueling soon and he'd be only too happy to take out Heero-that's what he's been wanting to do for some time now. And if Lady Une hears about this, she'll have this place swarming with Preventers, all intent on helping Heero in their own way by killing him and destroying Wing Zero."

Quatra looked out the door again. "I don't want that to happen but we've got to find Heero first before we can do anything else."

Wufei choose that moment to come storming in, completely soaked from the pouring rain. He dropped the raincoat he was wearing and threw off his muddy shoes, glaring at the floor the whole time. When he saw the two, he glared at them and stormed off to his room.

Duo sighed and shook his head. "I'll take that as a sign that he didn't find Heero."

*****

Sailor Pluto gasped awake, her trance sliding off her like water. A grave and frightened expression lined her face. It was still there minutes later as Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus walked in, Sailor Saturn walking along between them. They were laughing about something but the laughter stopped as soon as they saw Pluto's face.

"We have a big problem."


	2. Enter the Scouts

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master Chapter Two

Enter the Scouts

"So who's he?" Sailor Uranus asked unconcernedly. Pluto had summoned an orb of some power and it was now showing them an image of a young teen boy with cobalt eyes. Despite her seemingly indifferent attitude, Uranus had to admit that whenever they saw his face, a chill ran down her spine. 'Stop that,' she chided herself angrily, 'he's just a boy.'

The child they were looking at had dark and knowing eyes and wild brown hair reaching down to his shoulders. His body was covered up by a fine mist created by the heavy rainfall and he seemed to be running rather fast through some sort of mountainous forest. Shadows hid most of the boy's face. His speed surpassed anything one might have expected from a boy his age yet he ran with strict discipline and was still unwinded though he had been running for the past few minutes in the rain. He looked like an outlaw from a movie, complete with a long, dark trench coat and fingerless gloves. Beneath the trench coat were flashes of dark pants and a dark tank top that clung to his lean yet muscular body. The orb was to be a bit foggy but Pluto could still see a trickle of blood running from his face.

Pluto shook her head unsure. "I don't know for certain but when I was meditating, his face came to be. I got some really bad vibes from him and he's just a human boy."

Neptune looked at him closely, also noticing the blood. After a moment, she saw a long, jagged scar cut into his face. "Yes, but normal boy don't give off bad vibes or have those kinds of scars. Do you see them?" She ran one of her slender fingers down the left side of his cheek through the magic sphere. The other hand rose to push a strand of her glittering turquoise hair behind an ear.

The other scouts leaned in closer. Saturn placed one of her fingers on his opposite. "He has another one here…" her finger moved to his ear. "…and here."

Uranus looked at her fellow female warriors. "Do you think he's running from the person who did this to him? The vibes you felt could be from what happened to him or what that person might do to him."

Understanding the point, Pluto pointed to behind the kid. 'Stop here,' she commanded the orb. It paused there. Moments later, an angry Chinese boy the same age ran to the spot and paused. His pitch-black hair gelled down and worry lines were already showing on his young face, the expression on him indicating his enormous rage. He looked around, as if he could feel someone watching him. Neptune felt a surge of panic as he looked straight at them and continued looking their direction for several moments. The fear she felt from the teen standing before the sight of their magical orb nearly equal from what she had felt from the other boy. Almost, but not quite. 'He can't see us,' she thought, trying to ease the panic. 'He can't see us so don't worry.'

After a while, the Chinese turned away and cursed, having lost the trail of the boy he was following. He wiped away some rain that had fallen on his face and began looking at the ground in hopes of finding some trail. Finding none, he looked at the sky and yelled "HEERO! I'LL FIND YOU, YOU COWARD! STOP RUNNING AWAY!"

"Heero," Saturn murmured to herself. "That's his name." Pluto noticed her voice and looked at the young Scout, a thought forming in her mind. It was interrupted when Neptune's excited voice broke in.

"Do you see that!" Sailor Neptune asked, pointing at the boy's hand. A gun. Pluto began to rethink about her trance and cursed its fogginess. 'Perhaps Uranus is correct. The vibes I felt may have been coming from something done to him. But I was so sure, and his face was so clear. Even now, I feel danger all around the boy and we do not even see him.' She closed her eyes in confusion.

The Chinese ran around the area for about five more minutes then began heading back the way he came. He cursed the whole way back and glared at whatever moved before leaping aside into a thick thicket.

Uranus looked up at Sailor Pluto. "Can you find that kid again, the one they call Heero?"

Pluto shrugged. "I'll try but I only found him the first time because I just came out of my trance. It's going to be harder without the extra spiritual awareness." Her eyebrows pressed together as she began concentrating. The orb went dim and then bright again, draining Pluto of much of her energy but completing the task. On it, Heero was high in a tree, watching the other boy walk back to a huge, glowing house about a mile off.

"How'd he get up there," Saturn asked.

"Who knows. He seems to have much physical prowess, perhaps as much as Lita," Neptune answered with a smile as her mind wandered back to the time they'd spent with the Inner Scouts. She cleared her thoughts and focused on the present, not wanting any detail to be missed.

Saturn leaned in closer. "I think, I think he's saying something about 'peace.'" The girl leaned in closer. "I can't hear him anymore but I was sure he said something about 'protecting the peace.'" She leaned back and watched him, her eyes filled with wonder as he dropped the fifteen feet to the ground and went the way opposite from the path the other boy had taken. A strange feeling of recognition began turning her stomach in excitement and watched him intently. 'He reminds me of someone, someone I knew,' the young but powerful Sailor Scout thought perplexed.

Heero continued walking but listened intently to every sound. He was sure someone was watching him. He didn't let the knowledge show but kept his guard up. Wufei had nearly caught him, running with an intensity he'd never shown before, not even when they'd fought in their Gundams. A twig broke and Heero froze, immediately calculating where it came from, how he could use the trees around him to his advantage, and who it could be. He started running and nearly escaped.

Wufei ran out into the clearing, aiming the tranquilizer to the spot he had just seen Heero in. A wicked smile flew to his face. 'I have you now, Heero! Thought I was too weak to catch you. Well, I'll show you!' He fired once and got Heero in the arm but missed the next time, Heero already out of sight.

Following Heero's trail, Wufei was stunned to come to a dead end. He glanced all around and up in the trees. Walking forward, he stepped on something. It was the empty syringe that had been filled with a fluid sleeping drug. Wufei began to laugh. "You can't run forever, Heero! I got you and I'm gonna find you very soon! You might as well give up now before the drug starts working!" The young pilot walked around the area confidant that Heero would soon show up, the drug's dosage much higher than what was needed to subdue ordinary citizens.

All four Scouts had seen the past actions and nearly all their doubts were set aside. Pluto looked up as Uranus and Neptune and their eyes told her the same thought that was in her head-that Heero wasn't the one creating the danger but rather the one in danger.

"Let's go," Sailor Uranus stated, already powering up.

"No, wait," Saturn protested. She pointed to something behind a tree. "He's still o.k.. Look."

The others glanced but couldn't see what the dark-hair mistress of destruction was pointing at. Saturn noticed the looks and said insistently "Heero's fine. Just believe me. "

Pluto nodded. "All right, but will you explain how you seem to see him while we three don't?"

Saturn nodded. "Yes, of course. But there's really not much to explain. I really don't know why you cannot see him but he seems perfectly clear to me." Her expression turned serious. "What will we do once the other guy leaves?"

Pluto shrugged. "We'll deal with that when we get to that point in time. For now, we'll allow things to play themselves out. But…" her eyes closed as she thought over an issue in her head,"…I think we need to contact the other Scouts. This may be bigger than the three of us, with Sailor Saturn still training."

"What!" Uranus cried disdainfully. "We don't need the Inners' help. They are but children in this business. How can they help us?" Her eyes glittered with untold anger and she ran a hand through her short blond hair.

Neptune smiled softly. 'Nothing's changed with her. She's still unwilling to let Serena and the Scouts help… oh Serena, how we all miss you.' Turquoise hair shook away as Neptune refocused herself once again. 'Those memories can take on a life of their own if I dwell on them too long.'

Pluto had ignored the rebellious Uranus and already teleported them in a sense. They had all been living along the Time Doors for what could have been years or seconds but Pluto had faded the image of the universe that served as a background to this place to focus her thoughts more clearly. The reflection began to bloom all around them as she took away the barrier severing the link between reflection and counterpart. The three other Scouts held their breath as the empty room they'd been in was filled. Nothing mattered in this place. The cosmos swirled as they reached the Gates and Pluto began to unlock the way to the Tokyo that a loving and light-hearted golden-hair girl lived in, a girl they all knew and missed so much, though one of them was too proud to admit it.

Sailor Saturn watched in wonder, continually amazed every time they came to this place. Shooting stars left behind a trail of silvery dust all around them and the dark emptiness of space always managed to fascinate the young warrior with its ever changing appearance. Planets silently spiraled about the four and the sun shined with a never ending brightness. Everything gleamed with the light and meteors ran through the void like black flower petals. Nothing could touch this place yet everything was in it. 

A special planet seemed to glow with spirit. A heavenly array of pure white clouds shielded the third planet from the blinding light of the sun as it spun through space like an endless waltz with its barren blackness. Glimpses of green and fertile lands along with beautiful blue waters could be seen beneath the white clouds' cover. Majestic tall mountains grazed like tiny rumples on the Earth's surface. But it wasn't these things that drew the powerful females.

It was the tiny, seemingly insignificant and desolate floating isle beside the atrocious planet-it's guardian and protector. The silvery moon floated along alongside Earth, its many wounds plain for any to see. Scientist explained the phenomenon of huge open mutilations as injuries taken during particularly powerful meteor showers. The moon, they'd say to amazed audiences, had no such protection from the falling stars like the Earth's atmosphere. One scientist had even gone to compare the moon to a peaceful nation with no armies to protect it from the onslaught of enemy meteors. Was it chance or fate that he's comparison was so close to the moon's true history? Each Sailor Scout held painful memories of how the once beautiful and flourishing Moon Kingdom was reduced to dust. And how all of them were forbidden to join in the battle to save the kingdom. 

Saturn shuddered as she remembered watching from the Earth, encased in a human body for the protection of the Kingdom, her awesome powers frightening the courts and fighters of the Moon Kingdom. She had been screened as a possible guard in the Kingdom's new female unit, a group of selected princesses with special powers from each planet chosen to guard the new princess Serena. The Queen, Serenity, once had such a unit but they had been killed in the line of duty and she'd never come to terms with their death. But she'd allowed Serena the experience to have such a group of loyal friends and now each planet was asked to send one of its princesses.

Saturn remembered how excited she'd been as her father had chosen her and how the Queen had sent an escort to accompany her on the journey, the first time she'd ever been off of her planet. After the initial tests, Serenity had welcomed her as a princess with extraordinary powers but once they discovered just how powerful she was…Saturn felt a twinge of pain as she remembered the look Serenity had given her. She'd left her home planet to become a guard for the Queen's daughter but was rejected and condemned to live her immortal life trapped inside a human body, her powers reduced to nothing.

The courts had called her the Mistress of Destruction, the Dark Sailor Scout and the Destroyer of Planets. She'd never done anything to deserve the pain they gave her but it was worse when they'd damned her planet, believing her family to be in conspiracy with the Negaverse. They held to the notion that the planet Saturn had sent its most powerful daughter in an attempt to kill the young Princess Serena and turned their backs on it as the planet was slowly drained of its power. Saturn's people died, watched by indifferent soldiers of the Kingdom and the planet became a lifeless hulk of rock. When the people of the Kingdom asked why no one came from Saturn anymore, they were told that the Dark Sailor Scout had destroyed her home world to hide all evidence of her activities and she had already been punished. Yet Saturn remained true to the cause that her father had sent her on. She promised to protect her princes at whatever cost. And she kept her word. The age-old warrior trapped in a young girl's body smiled at the thought.

Uranus watched, a stoic expression on her face while a more painful one adorned that of Neptune's. Both had been kept hidden away as a powerful backup in case the Kingdom's original defenses fell. None but the beautiful Queen Serenity knew of their existence and their strict orders prevented them from joining. Both had felt their hearts crumble as the Kingdom fell, watching the battle ground until the last trace of the old kingdom vanished and had silently cursed their inability to prevent its destruction. They were forced to wander thousands of years before their self-assigned task of ridding existence of all evil had drawn them back to the Earth. They had found the Inner Scouts but were not surprised by that fact-Uranus and Neptune had watched the four warriors from afar before the war, envying their happiness. The two weren't surprised by the Scouts' reincarnation. The blonde Sailor Moon had shocked them and the smaller Sailor Mini-Moon was immediately connected to the older version. The two lone Sailor Scouts had happiness never before known even though it came at a cost-both were forced to leave the Inners after the last war but would rather leave then forfeit the time spent with their angelic Queen, Sailor Moon.

Pluto knew no happiness when her beautiful glittering eyes saw the moon. Its demise had been known to her many years ahead and instead of revealing herself to the Queen and preparing them, she'd chosen the cowardly way out, preferring the shadows and chaos of time. The price her mistake extracted from her was nearly unbearable and Pluto often found herself searching through time for a way to redress the sin. She would have reversed time to correct her foolish mistake but was forbidden by her father. Instead, Pluto was forced to watch the Queen breathe her last breath and forced herself to witness that moment in time over and over again, eyes drowning in crystal tears. 

Believing nothing good would come again, the princess of Pluto threw herself into the depths of time and became recluse, avoiding any company. Uranus and Neptune found her at the Gates of Time and they accepted each other as equal but never as friends, each side fearing for unseen troubles. Pluto lived like that for years or seconds, until her father opened her eyes and showed her the inherited powers of time manipulation she had, giving her the Key to the Gates. The green hair warrior was given permission to travel through time and soon knew, understood and accepted her role as the solitary warrior of Time. She was allowed to intervene during times of extreme troubles and became as old as time itself as she traveled throughout existence, gathering the infinite knowledge of the cosmos. But the moon, no matter what happened or what will happen, became a dark hole in her heart, something that would never be faced again with any degree of happiness or exultation.

Pluto finished finding the exact time they were to take and commanded the door to open. The other three watched the cosmos sway in its eternal movement for awhile longer than turned to watch with Sailor Pluto the slow opening of the Gates of Time. The large ivory doors slowly swung open and none could see into the utterly immense dark beyond the huge gates. Pluto stepped forward first, motioning the others with her delicate hand. They followed warily and as they entered, Pluto willed the door to shut. The two slabs swung shut with an ominous tone and darkness covered everything.

***** 

Serena watched a bird chirping outside the window, its baby blue wings spread out as far as they would go as it sang to the world around it. Serena knew it was childish but she couldn't help but envy the bird, free to go where it wanted. To be able to fly free whenever you wanted to…she let out a loud sigh.

"Serena, are you paying attention?" a harsh demanding voice cut into the blonde's thoughts.

'Uh oh,' "Um, yeah of course Miss Huriko," Serena replied nervously, a sweatdrop forming on her forehead as she saw the tall bronze skinned substitute staring annoyed at her.

The substitute teacher sighed. 'When I was given this job, they warned me about these kinds of students.' "Then what were we just speaking about?"

"Ummm…"

"Just as I thought. Stay after class when the bell rings. I'm going to have a talk with you about paying more attention to your classes."

'Man, she's just a sub! Subs can't do that…can they?' "All right, Miss Huriko," Serena replied meekly.

"Good. Now, before Serena interrupted our class-"

'I didn't interrupt anything,' Serena thought rebelliously.

"-we were discussing possible reasons for the social state of certain people. Take convicts and criminal for instance. Why do they act like they do, causing crime?" A single hand rose tentatively. "Yes, Mr…"

"Melvin," the dirty blonde kid said, standing up and adjusting his thick glasses. "I've heard that sometimes, when a person is a child and not held or wanted like they're parents are suppose to hold and love them, they become very difficult to be around." He sat down in his chair, table squeaky slightly from the weight.

"Um, yes, that may be the case-"

"Could you expand on that subject, Miss? I'm afraid that I don't know much about it," Melvin interrupted, tweaking with his glasses.

"Of course Melvin." A slight blush appeared on her tanned face. "Let's see, it's been proven through certain test that babies not held and touched in its infant hood becomes very anti-social, perhaps even violent. The worst criminals and terrorists in record were usually abandoned or abused when they were young. That treatment turned them into ruthless and shameless rebels in society. One such person was the well known Hitler who massacred millions of Jews. Many dictators today were abused as children and took control and power to make up for their mistreatment. Child abuse is still one of the worst crimes today and those that abuse children, when found out, are not safe anywhere from the masses of vengeful abused children. Even if arrested and thrown in jail, the other convicts will turn on them because the hurting of a child, the taking away of that child's innocence and pure heart is the most evil trespass. It is considered corrupt to even the murders and butchers that will live the rest of their lives in jail. Children are the future and people all around the world will do anything to make sure that future is kept safe." Miss Huriko took a deep breath, her tanned face relaxing from the discussion. "Now, are there any questions?"

"What do you mean, 'certain tests?' Do people actually abandon babies just to see what will happen to them? Because if they do, it's very wrong." Molly's eyebrows crunched together in semi-anger.

"What? Oh no, of course not. You see, children are abandoned all the time and-"

"Just because they're abandoned doesn't give anyone the right to experiment on them," Molly interrupted. 

"No, I wasn't going to say that. You see, when they're abandoned, the children are found and taken to the orphanages. But there are not enough people working in the orphanages to care for every single child other than giving it the essentials-like food and clothing. That forces the child to grow up on its own and they often become solitary because they've never been treated with anything close to love and wouldn't know how to show something they've never experienced for themselves."

"But I know a guy from the Tokyo Orphanage and he doesn't act any different from any of my friends," a student ejected from the back of the room.

Miss Huriko blue eyes sparkled as a smile crossed her face. "Consider you friend lucky. He probably joined forces in a sense with the other orphans to ward off the depression most castaway children suffer. Perhaps your friendship is the thing that keeps him going. Consider yourself lucky if that's the case."

Miss Huriko straightened her long blue dress. "Continuing on…"

"Why'd her lesson bother me so much Luna?" Serena asked thoughtfully as she walked home. The black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead lay on her shoulder, slightly dozing. "I mean, its not like I'd ever have anything to do with children-hey, that's it!" she exclaimed, halting suddenly and disturbing Luna's sleep. The cat opened an eye. "What's it?"

"I know why it bugged me. I mean, what if I didn't hold Rini when she was a kid?"

Luna fell off her shoulder. "WHAT!?!"

Serena shrugged. "It's only a guess. Since Rini's so difficult, it must mean that I didn't take proper care of her in the future." She held out a fist determinedly. "But now that I know what the problem is behind that brat's lousy attitude, I'll fix it. No problem." Blonde pigtails bounced along as Serena began skipping home with a triumphant look on her face.

"I still don't think its fair that I had to stay after for just daydreaming," the future queen whined loudly as she continued down the street.

Luna sighed. "I still think it's because she takes after you." The black cat began following Serena's trail

*****

Heero's breathing was still as quiet as always but something was wrong. There were huge gaps between each breath and his eyes were drooping dangerously low. Wufei had long since given up his hunt and had stalked away angrily back to the protection of the huge mansion. Heero cursed the Chinese pilot and was already thinking of ways to get even with the arrogant teen. Sleep was creeping in slowly now, lowering his defenses no matter how hard he fought the drug. A bitter smile was on Heero's face now. 'They knew…that they couldn't get me…without…any help.'

He had managed to crawl into a glittering cavern before the drug started working its way through his defenses, the eerie green light dancing on the walls and the strange sloshing sound coming from behind the walls his only comfort. Heero closed his eyes a moment only to force them open again, memories floating to the top of his mind, destructive and haunting dreams horrifying enough to get a grown man screaming at the top of his lungs. Behind each dream came the unforgettable voice of him…Dr. J.-the only human able to reach past Heero's defenses and see his weaknesses. And use them for his own advantages. Heero scrowled. Dr. J. was dead and no one else would be able to manipulate him like he was able to. But at the moment, the only thing that he could seem to focus on was the uncontrollable desire for sleep…deep and dreamless sleep…

Heero woke in a daze. His vision was unfocused and all he could see was a blurry shadow standing before him. Muscles failed him in Heero's attempt to stand and he growled angrily, damning his weakness. The soft drip of water still continued and the blurry walls still glimmered and gave of a shimmering dark green light. But Heero's attention was focused on the hazy figure standing ahead of him.

"Who are you," he asked abruptly. Head pounding. Heero's fingers moved to his face but as soon as they came in contact with the deep scar, he whipped them away. His bleeding had stopped but his mind was still fazed.

A deep rumble came from the shadow. "Oh, just a stranger," it replied casually in a masculine voice. He began to advance.

Heero hissed and backed away, his back hitting the wall. "Stay away," he warned. 

"What are you going to do? Bite me?" The man laughed but it wasn't in mockery. A definite note of pity and sympathy rang in the deep laughter.

Heero's eyes narrowed menacingly, stopping the man from coming closer. Even in his current state, the boy was a powerful force if backed into a corner with no way out.

"Listen, I didn't come here to fight," the man said in a clear voice. He backed away, hands out to the side in what could be considered a peaceful and submissive gesture. Heero's expression never left his scarred face. "I came to help you."

Heero's eyes narrowed to slits. "Help me?" he hissed in a very dangerous tone. The venom locked in Heero's words caused the figure to stumble back, frightened. Heero's hands clenched together, nails biting into his skin. The boy's obscure vision did nothing to dull the murder and rage dwelling in his cobalt eyes.

"Yeah, help you. Look," the man replied hastily as Heero's expression darkened, "from the way you're acting, I'd say that Chinese boy put more then a sleeping drug. Maybe even poison. If you want to get better, you'll have to trust me and let me take you to the hospital."

Heero's mind was racing but his expression and posture didn't change. 'I know Wufei put in a sleeping drug from the way he reacted and the way my body reacted. But a simple sleeping drug does not cause such…' Heero's eyesight dimmed more '…reactions. Could he have put in more than a simple sedative? He did say that it would be easier to just give up. What did he mean by those words? Did Wufei poison me?' Heero continued thinking but a small part of his attention was still focused on the man across the small, green cave the two were hidden in.

The man quickly wiped off the sweat rolling down his forehead. He knew that he couldn't stand the child's deadly gaze much longer but orders were orders. Even if he failed and was killed in this mission, there was always a replacement. Sooner or later, this child, Heero Yuy, would falter and fall to his organization. All that was needed was patience…the thought gave him enough courage to withstand Heero's destructive glower for the time being. If he succeeded to bring Heero over to their side willingly, without any bloodshed, he'd be rewarded beyond anything imaginable. If he failed, he'd be celebrated for all time as a true martyr. Either way was fine.

Heero closed his eyes, mind still raging about what the stranger had said. He sighed in resignation. "What reason do I have to trust you?"

The man's eyes widened in surprise. Was the infamous Heero Yuy truly going to believe his story? A crooked smile broke across his face and he replied casually "Nothing. I know that you won't trust me but think about this situation before you make a decision carefully-what do you have to lose? The other Gundam pilots have already turned against you, shooting at you and sending the Chinese pilot Wufei to poison you with the idea of capturing you. That's why the poison didn't kill you immediately. They wanted to capture you first but used a mixture of poison and a sedative to knock you out, the poison added in case you got away. If you don't trust me, you'll die here. If you do and I happen to be an enemy, you'll be killed. But if I you trust me and let me get you an antidote, you'll live."

"What if there's no poisen? And what reason do you have to want to help a Gundam pilot?" Heero's mind was rushing but slowly falling into a trance-like state that he missed a certain detail-this man seemed to know a whole lot more than any normal citizen should. The fact that he even knew where Heero had hidden when Wufei couldn't find him was a distinct suggestion that he was far more than he seemed. But that information slipped through Heero's darkening mind.

Heero could barely make out the man shrugging his shoulders. "Would a normal sleeping potion affect you like the stuff Wufei gave you? I'm just like I said before, a stranger, but someone who wants to help the more overwhelmed victims of the war. I was going to help the other pilots but they seem to be getting along just fine. So, will you allow me to help you?"

Heero eye lids drifted shut and he was barely aware enough to understand the question. A moment passed but the young teen nodded once before passing out.

*****

Author's note:

I'm rearranging all the chapters in this story 'cause they're unorganized and all that…


	3. New Enemies Emerge

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master Chapter Three

New Enemies Emerge

Rini walked down the street, laughing happily as Darien held her hand. In her other hand was a large vanilla ice cream cone. Drops of ice cream fell to the concrete sidewalk as the two walked through the city's main park. Darien laughed along with his future daughter as the two enjoyed the soft, breathy wind and the gently sway of the blossoming trees. It was another soft spring day and even the sun seemed kind, its blinding light more comforting then the two knew it could be.

Serena was having a meeting with the girls at Rei's temple, her four friends truly making an effort to improve the blonde's scores. Even Mina had taken up the pledge, vowing that her friend would not be left behind when the school year was over. A flash of worry passed over Darien as he thought of what would happen when the year was over and began wondering whether Serena would manage to pass to the next grade level.

But those worries were easily forgotten with the beautiful sights of nature all around them. Darien was not the only ones to take the day off and enjoy nature. Dozens of people had flocked to the park, most hanging out in groups or couples while some preferred to sit alone with closed eyes, allowing the gently blowing wind to calm down the world around them. Cherry blossoms flew through the park on the breeze and their refreshing fragrance and soft caresses soothed the worn out city.

Rini giggled as a rush of petals surrounded her before floating away. Closing her eyes and sighing in pleasure, the small cherry haired girl took a quick glance at her future father. "Darien, don't you wish Serena was here with us?" her young voice questioned.

Darien smiled, his own eyes closed. "Of course I do. But I would rather have her studying if it helps her."

"Ok. I was just wondering if you would rather have her here instead of me."

Darien opened an eye. "I wouldn't trade a moment I spend with you, dear Rini."

Rini giggled, a slight blush on her checks. The two walked to a cool spot beneath a cherry tree and Darien opened a small brown picnic basket that he'd been holding. Inside were two lunches Serena had prepared for them. After failing nearly every class, the ditzy blonde had somber up, focusing more on her future and losing her more childish characteristics. She never whined about school work or chores anymore, her usual fights with Rini had nearly stopped and even in battles, the girl had toughened up and even stopped her traditional speech. Darien noticed a great change in the way she stopped hanging on him all the time and Serena had even stopped her protective attitude towards him. Serena's family and teachers thought the changes were all for the better but her friends worried secretly that the ditzy, ordango haired and naïve Serena they all cared about would drift away to be replaced by a grown up and distant version. 

But Serena never lost her beautiful dreams and was often caught daydreaming about them. Serena once left her hair down but after seeing her friends hurt response, continued leaving them up in pigtails. Even Darien couldn't help but admit that he was losing her in a way. The two were never as close as before, Serena always leaving him with the excuse that she had to do homework or clean her chores or that her friends needed her. The beautiful Serena, the one untouched by the harsh world, was at last waking up to reality and Darien wished that he could have let her remain asleep forever.

Rini watched Darien's face, his conflicting emotions obvious to her inexperienced eyes. She looked away back to the sandwich Serena had made for her. It was a plain peanut butter and jelly sandwich but Serena had whispered into her ears before she'd left to Rei's that the sandwich was made especially for her. Her lips turned into a sorrowful smile. 'Serena is acting like my mommy now, but Darien doesn't want her to change. I wish Darien could act like he did before Serena changed but I also want Serena to keep acting like this. Why can't I have both?'

Darien absent mindedly took a bite out of his sandwich, running a hand through his charcoal colored hair. 'I knew Serena was not going to be a spontaneous and clumsy person forever but…' he winced, 'I wish she could have remained like that for a little while longer.'

A tall light haired person with dark sunglasses looked their way. The person's hair was cut short and the individual was dressed in comfortable looking beige pants with a white shirt and beige coat slug over their shoulder, walking with a more feminine style despite her manly appearance. Once she saw Darien and Rini, she made her way towards them.

Rini looked up as the person approached and squinted her eyes at them. After a moment, she gasped with wide eyes and jumped up, running through the distance to greet her. "Uranus!"

Sailor Uranus, now detransformed, smiled at the greeting. "Hello, Small Lady. Please remember to call be Amara now."

Rini smiled and nodded excitedly. "Of course. I'm sorry Amara. Is Plu- I mean Setsuna here? "

Amara nodded with a smile. "Sure thing, she's coming right now. I think I was a little faster on my bike then Michelle and Setsuna were in their car."

Rini gasped. "Michelle's here too?"

Darien looked around to find Rini gone. He stood and whirled around, seeing her standing off a ways with a familiar looking person. "Uranus," he whispered, not knowing whether he should be glad to see the Sailor Scout or angry from the way she and Neptune had left without a word to Serena and the girls. He walked briskly towards them, not wanting to attract the attention of other park goers.

Amara saw Darien approaching and her face turned to stone. She looked at Rini apologetically. "I'm sorry Small Lady but it looks like I'm not welcome here. Darien seems quite upset with me for some reason."

"What? Darien wouldn't be mad," Rini argued as Darien came up to them. "Are you mad Darien?"

Darien risked a smile at the pink haired girl. "Of course I'm not mad," he said, looking at the dirty blond haired woman before him. 'Not at you, at least.'

Amara arched an eyebrow. "You mean not at her."

Darien scrowled. "What do you want, Amara?"

Amara shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing that concerns you, rose man. I'm here for Sailor Moon and possibly the Sailor Scouts."

"Sailor Moon, what do you want with Serena?"

"Like I said, nothing that concerns Tuxedo Mask. If, after I tell Serena what I came here to tell her and the Inner Scouts, she decides to let you know, I couldn't care less. But it's up to her."

"Oh dear, are you getting in a fight already Amara?" an elegant voice questioned teasingly. The three turned to see Michelle and Setsuna making their way towards them.

"Setsuna!" Rini cried happily, running towards the green haired woman. The two hugged and began to talk eagerly.

"How are you Small Lady?"

"I'm fine! How are you?"

Setsuna smiled. "Everything is going fine. Your parents miss you greatly and hope that you'll return to the future soon. They are planning a rather large party just for you when you decide to return home. Your mother really misses you. She wants you to come home for your birthday."

"Really! Then I'll do it." Rini laughed.

Darien nodded in greeting to the two but his attention never left Amara, just as she continued looking at him contemptuously.

Michelle stepped between the two. "Amara, we really don't have time for this. Darien, do you know where Serena is? We really must talk to her."

"She's at Rei's," Rini answered for Darien who refused to answer.

Michelle smiled. "Thank you, Small Lady. Would you like to come with us?"

Rini smiled and said "Yes," just as Darien scrowled and said "No." The women looked at each other.

"We were having a picnic before you interrupted us," Darien said, anger in his voice.

"But Darien, this could be really important. Please let me go?" Rini whined.

Darien stepped back startled. 'She acts just like Serena.' He nodded once and walked back to the picnic.

"What's wrong with him?" Michelle asked, confused. "He never use to be so cold."

Rini sighed. "It's because of Serena," she explained as the four of them walked out of the park. "She's changing I guess. Darien doesn't like it."

"What do you mean, she's changing Small Lady?" Amara asked.

Rini shrugged. "I don't know…she's not as clumsy or mean or loud or childish and everyone misses how Serena use to be."

"Hey, I thought you'd never come!"

Rini's eyes popped open. "Hotaru?"

The short black haired girl jumped out of a red car, the car Rini, Amara, Michelle and Setsuna were heading to. "Rini? Rini!"

The two friends ran towards each other. "Hotaru! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Hotaru shook her head, crystal tears in her dark eyes. She was wearing a dark purple shirt with black pants and was laughing with joy. "Me neither!"

The two talked happily as the three women smiled and got in the car. "Looks like they stayed friends through it all," Michelle remarked. Amara and Setsuna smiled in agreement. The car started and drove away through the busy streets of Japan.

Not too far off, in the top of a tree stood a small figure with dark auburn eyes, burning with eagerness. The person leaped down and walked into the park, always staying in the shadows. His thick cloak swished with his incredibly fast pace, its hood drawn up to protect him from probing eyes. Birds quieted down as he walked near and flew away if he came close, panic making their flight graceless and awkward. A cat that was hunting for food stopped, paralyzed as the presence grew near. It hissed and leaped away, tail hidden between its legs and ears drawn back as its wild eyes searched for an exit from the corrupt man. 

A deep throaty laughter was issued from his mouth but he kept going on, deeper into the forest-like park. At last, he stopped beside a crystal clear pond. Trees hovered near him, hiding the exit from both him and any other living soul. The man bowed low and removed his cloak to revel a long white robe. His silvery hair fell like spun silk, hiding irregularly long and pointed ears. His delicate pale face was covered by his long bangs and his long, fine fingers clasped together.

From the pond came a mist of dark violet color that washed away to revel a shadow form covered in darkness. Dark and dangerous eyes the color of utter darkness gazed from beneath the black fog that covered it.

"Report, Sydin," a raspy voice commanded.

"Yes, mistress. The Outer Scouts have returned and are currently seeking the Inner Scouts with some news. They have with them the future princess and have already begun transporting themselves to the Hikawa Temple, the place where all the Inner Scouts are presently at. All four Outer Scouts are here, including the Dark Sailor, Sailor Saturn." His voice was soft yet commanding and his head was kept bowed low.

"Very good, Sydin." The raspy voice seemed happy, almost, from the news that all Scouts were joining together.

"Mistress, may I ask of my brother," Sydin pleaded.

"Hmm, very well. Your brother is as successful as you and already we have a powerful, if as of yet unknowing, ally from a different plane. His name is Heero Yuy and his dimension collides with this one in the future, though that future is still closer to this time then the future that the Princess you speak of comes from. Soon, you will meet again with your brother."

"Mistress, please, tell me how a mere mortal will aid your cause?"

"How can a mere fairy aid my cause," the voice hissed angrily. Sydin cowered lower, murmuring deep apologies. The figure seemed to consider a thought then said "Very well, if it will make you serve me better."

Sydin, his face nearly pressed to the soft grass, nodded sincerely.

"If we take a mere human, as you wish to call them, and place it in a different dimension, that human will gain extraordinary powers. But those powers will only show themselves if the mortal is willingly transported and if that human is already powerful in their own time." A scaly tongue protruded from the figures mouth, licking dry black lips anxiously. "This human, Heero Yuy, is the most powerful human in his dimension, possibly stronger then the Scouts are and he is only a boy. If he were placed in this dimension under our control, then everything here will belong to me!"

Sydin smiled wickedly. "You will be in control of all, as you were born to be, Mistress."

"Go now, and continue reporting any activity of the Scouts."

Sydin began to rise. "Mistress, I have just remembered that the Scouts ally, Tuxedo Mask and Darien Shields, is currently fighting with the Outer Scouts and seems to be avoiding the Inner Scouts."

"Hmm, we shall use his inner problems to our own use. Now go and complete your mission."

Once the eleven spy left, the fog was dropped to revel a beautiful woman dressed in purple silk. Her hair was also silver spun silk and she had a single gem extruding from her forehead. Her skin gleamed in pale moonlight though it was midday outside of her hidden prison deep in the woods. Pale, silvery eyes watched as the vision of the moon cast dead light across the frozen pond her body was trapped in. The gem was shaped like a tear and glittered mournfully from its position. She also bared long and pointed ears, the trademark for all eleven and fairy kind. Wispy willows surrounded her, weeping with her as they always did and always would- the summoned guardians chosen to protect and guard her for all eternity. Her figure seemed to flicker, fading to the background and never truly there.

Only when her servants came could she muster enough energy to summon a shadow of her true self, one that could be seen by mortal eyes, and even then she was cursed to be seen as a creature of the dark, a reptilian monstrosity. Her body was aged beyond time, before the Moon Kingdom and she could be called a sister of the Goddess Serenity. Her astral self could be seen only by immortals and the only immortals lived without the slightest hint of her existence.

Letting out a deep and pain filled wail, the fallen entity cried with the knowledge that none could hear her in her frozen prism and vowed to extract revenge on the one who threw her into this prison. Silver tear flew from her eyes in slow motions as the woman lay down again, falling back to her body frozen miles beneath the surface in the bottomless lake.

Even if the Queen who damned her to this prison was dead, her line lived on. And as long as the lineage lived, her torment would continue. Destroy the living heir to the Moon Kingdom's thrown and the curse was destroyed with it. But the lineage wasn't passed through just the Princess Serena. It came from the Goddess that started all the lines of the Royalty.

It was passed through all of the Princesses and Scouts.

And with the boy child Heero Yuy working for her, their demise was soon and foreseen.

*****

Heero awoke in a small bed. Blinking twice, his sleep vision was cleared and he found himself on the bed in a small and empty room. There was a single entry way and the walls were made of solid stone. The air was chilly but he could feel nothing of its cold beneath the thick blankets that were pressed around him.

He threw them off and stepped gingerly onto the floor, body instantly adjusting to the room's temperature. For some reason, the small and sealed chamber he was in seemed to calm him more than anywhere else he'd been for the past few months. And Heero had traveled far to find some type of peace for him, a boy breed for wars. Already, the madness that had been lying dormant during the war was slowly awakening and he knew that it would soon consume him.

But the answer to the problem was found instantly, just as every other question he'd asked had eventually been answered. Such was the life of the young pilot who'd not yet seen twenty years in life though the years already witnessed were enough to pass as a lifetime of experience.

Heero moved to the door, noting that he'd been striped of his clothing, wearing only a pair of spandex shorts- the same type that he'd worn during the war. Without the clothing over his skin, new and old scars showed themselves in a startling vicious array. All over his body was cuts and bruises. Several deep gashes lay in a row across his two forearms, creating a sort of striped pattern. The long scar starting from his right ear ended in a sharp line above his heart and a second scar started nearby, running down his right side and ending in the middle of his belly, creating a sort of "L." Black bruises covered half of Heero's left leg and deep purple ones graced the skin on his back. Heero emitted a skilled and more than ready to battle fighter and the sight of the marks removed him to a time after the war when his madness began to show itself.

*** flashback ***

"Heero Yuy, is that your name?"

The dark haired boy nodded once sharply, careful not to let his face leave the shadows.

"Hmm, do you like peace, boy?" The black street fighter sucked hard on his cigar and breezed out in a fluid motion, the signs of a relaxed mode. Heero mentally smiled as he shook his head just as decisively. "Then why you named after some peace guy? You agree with those "pacifist" ideas, boy?"

Heero shook his head once more. The smell of the man was extremely unpleasant but he was offering Heero a chance out of the tormenting peace. Now that the Preventers Unit was practically overflowing with volunteers, peace problems reported anywhere could be handled by specialists. But this particular case was reportedly the one behind the recent killing spree in this neighborhood and Lady Une believed it required the experience of a Gundam Pilot.

"Ok than. What do you want with us?" The man motioned with his hand and twenty or so different gangsters moved out of the shadows. Heero had noticed them long before and had already planned on how to take them out. If they were as stupid as the man before him, it would be far easier then what Lady Une had described the street gang to be. But he was prepared for the worst, imagining them as well-trained soldiers. His main goal was to capture the leader but taking out his bandits would get him some bonus money.

"I want to join you. This peace is getting to me and I don't know why people have stopped fighting, I mean fighting is what separates us from monkeys." Heero's dark eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the deep slashes on the gangsters arms. The stripes were old but from the way every mobster had the same pattern on their own arms, it was clear that the cuts were only there as decorative symbols, signs to distinguish their cult from the rest.

The mob boss laughed heartily. "You know, boy. I like your attitude. And just because I'm feeling generous, I'll let you join. But you have to get…let's say, 'signed' in, if you know what I mean." The big man motioned to the deep gashes. His tiny black eyes tried to glare at Heero menacingly but only succeeded in lowering Heero's opinion of himself. "Are you up to it? Or do these _big_ scratches scare you?" the man laughed and began leaving, his body guard falling in step as he passed

Heero glared at him but said nothing, his only answer to move forward and begin walking after the group at a comfortable pace.

They passed several large and empty building before stopping before something that resembled a crude shack. Mice and rats squeaked all around, their bright yellow eyes watching the huge men from cracks in the walls of the shanty and beneath old newspapers. Flies buzzed annoyingly close but Heero brushed them away, attention focused on his surroundings. Cats and dogs sounded from far away, the noise echoing through the deserted streets and an ambulance's alarm echoed through the alley. Heero remembered living in a place not unlike this own rundown neighborhood during his 'survival' training as he sidestepped a large, black bag looking suspiciously like a dead body.

A huge smile broke across the black man's chubby face, displaying black rotting teeth as he called down into the rotting house "Come out, you. We've got another member."

A stringy, dirty white man crawled out, back hunched over as he licked his lips and wrung his fingers exceptionally. "Yes, what do you want now?" he demanded in a squeaky and deceitful voice. He looked at Heero, eyeing the boy's lean body with more than casual interest. "Are you...loaning…him to me? I haven't had one of them in a while and I've been very good…"

The mobster swiped his fist at the dirty Caucasian. "No, you don't get him until you make up for your last mistake. Now…fetch me a knife. He just joined today and needs to get his tattoo."

White head bobbed once and was gone. Only a moment passed before the odd man returned, dull and rusted knife in hand. The mobster grabbed the knife away, examined it and turned to Heero with a wicked grin. "Now, don't scream."

Nearly an hour later, Heero exited the old and neglected neighborhood walking behind the gangsters. Blood was still dripping through tightly wrapped cloth around his arms and Heero ignored the numbing sensation running through his muscles. His shirt gone, ripped up to bandage the gruesome chisels on his arms and from the signs he'd been receiving from the gang, the next initiation process required more…body. The gang had been looking at him with a hungry and sensual look for the past few minutes and Heero began to wish he'd brought more then the spare gun hidden in his shoes.

The underworld leader stopped at a large and obviously barren building, lust burning in his eyes. He looked at Heero and smiled dirtily. "After you."

Heero's eyes glared at the man a moment before calmly walking forward. Heero paused a moment at the doorway beside the large black man and looked inside, giving off the image of ignorance while he calculated their reaction speed. A large black rat hissed, drawing the gang's attention and Heero flashed into movement. His hand curled into a fist and he threw it into the black man's face, the momentum throwing the man nearly ten feet back into a solid brick wall. By the time the man's guard realized who the enemy was, Heero had removed his gun, fired several disarming shots and had effectively demobilizing nearly all of the guard. Only three men were left standing while the others fell to the ground in pain. Heero rushed forwards and knocked the three out with a series of punches and stepped back to review his work.

The boss moaned in pain and Heero strode to him, lifting the man off the ground. "Mr. Chang," he stated in a monotone voice, causing a shiver of fear to run down the offender's spine, "you are as of this moment under arrest for a series of violence against this city. As of now, you are under the custody of the Preventers Unit, headed by Lady Une and will be charged under her rules. Any attempt to escape will be met by harsh punishments enforced by me. Already you have injured my person so that I need little provocation to enforce those punishments. You will be tried under the rulings of Vice Foreign Minister Relena Dorlien who will decide whether you're trial will be public and who will also appoint you a public attorney to speak for you."

Chang watched with fearful eyes as Heero lifted his fist. "W-what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to subdue you to prevent future escape attempts," Heero replied simply, knocking the mob leader out with a simple flow of the hand.

Nearly three days later, Heero walked into the Preventers Headquarters. Lady Une was waiting at the door for him, a pile of papers in her hand. She looked up as he approached and though her eyes widened slightly, she made no comments about the huge scars running across his arms. Already he had three scars on his young face and the additional ones added to his cold appearance. 

She cleared her throat, inclining her head towards a hallway. The two walked down the hall with a strict military stride. At its end, she turned to the side, making sure no one was following, and lifted one of the large wall hangings. Beneath it was what looked like a plain wall but Lady Une pressed an unassuming knot in the wood wall, activating the hidden passageway. Heero watched the procedure with knowing and slightly annoyed eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd seen the many secret and hidden passageways designed to protect the Preventers leader-Relena Peacecraft Dorlien. To him, the numerous secret handshakes, phrases and buttons were nothing but annoying triggers that would never truly stop an enemy.

Lady Une bowed her head slightly and stepped back, waiting for Heero to enter the room before shutting the passageway.

Heero walked forward and stopped, waiting for the blonde haired pacifist named Relena Dorlien to notice his arrival. The girl was sitting at her ivory desk, sorting through piles of documents, most of them marked 'Urgent' or "Confidential.'

Relena smiled politely a minute later when she noticed the shadowy figure at the doorway. "Heero-Heero! What happened?" She scrambled for her chair, papers floating off her desk as she ran by. They drifted down to the floor with a soft rustling sound and landed with hardly a whisper. Heero watched the papers begin to drift off the table, the weight of one pulling others down with it like silky difting petals.

Relena's hands gently touched his arm, yanking his attention back to undeniable reality. He stepped back from her probing eyes and her light touches and bowed his head slightly. "Vice Foreign Minister Dorlien."

Relena's eyes pleaded with him to let her into his life but the only answer she got was the cold and direct tone of his voice and the distant look of his eyes. She sighed painfully, turning back to her desk. "Heero Yuy, how are you doing?"

Heero ignored the question, staring straight ahead as he waited for the true reason behind this meeting.

""Yes, I see. Well, I just wanted to…congratulate you with your recent success and notify you of my decision." She watched his every movement for some hint of the Heero of her dreams, wanting him to break through the cold icy wall that blocked out the world. "I've decided free you from your obligations of a Preventer."

"What do you mean?" Heero asked, already knowing the answer but a small part of him hoped it wasn't true.

Relena smiled nervously. "What I mean is that you no longer have to live your life like this, Heero. You don't have to keep fighting. Already, you and the other pilots have given so much to the people of the Earth and the colonies, it is my firm belief that you need a chance to live however you want with no ties to anyone." She looked down. "Not even me. It is selfish of me to continue working you pilots when I already have enough resources to take care of the peace."

Heero's eyes were the slightest bit unfocused and his breathing in a minor fashion was disoriented but Relena wasn't able to pick up on the change. He stood still for a long moment then nodded once and turned sharply, leaving the room with a brisk stride.

Relena put her head on the table and held back the sob as the teen pilot walked out of the room without a second glance. "I'm sorry Heero."

***end flashback***

Heero's vision refocused itself as a tall and blonde haired man walked into the room. The man was wearing a dark cloak and was carrying a small package. He jumped back, startled, when he saw the boy standing across from him.

"Oh, so you're awake? I was beginning to think that the antidote wasn't working."

Heero stared at him with steely eyes.

"Hmm, yes well, I think you'll want your clothes back." The man reached down to pick up his fallen parcel and gave it to Heero. "Here you go."

Heero looked at him a moment more before taking the package and opening it to find his clothing, freshly washed. He quickly pulled them on and tuned out the blonde.

When Heero was dressed, the man smiled in a friendly way, stretching out a hand. "My name is Phillip, in case you were wondering." His long pale fingers were outstretched a moment before Heero slowly reached over and shook hands. Phillip's smile brightened. "So, how do you feel? The doctors said it was a rather rare potion you'd been injected with, one certain Oriental cultures use to use when giving sacrifices to their Gods. Rather interesting, wouldn't you say?"

Heero pulled on his black gloves, giving Phillip a grunt for response.

"Yeah. They said you were lucky because they were nearly out of the antidote. I must admit, if those guys were you're friends, I'd hate to see your enemies."

Heero glared at the cocky blonde and began to notice his unusual ears.

Phillip noticed the stare and reached up to touch an ear. "Yes, I know. I guess you can call them a birthmark or something." He brushed away his hair to reveal long and pointed ears. "The girls go crazy over them."

"Phillip, what do you want from me?"

Phillip's eyes widened. 'He actually talked to me!' An innocent smile was displayed, flashing white teeth. "Heero! I just want to be your friend! Remember back in the cave? I told you I knew how to help you and that's the only reason I even wanted to met you."

Heero's gaze never wandered from the man's pale face. 'I…don't remember anything from last night except Wufei…' the name stirred a pit of emotions within the silent pilot, most of them quite dark. 'Everything is too dim. Is this a side effect from the poison? "Where are we?"

Phillip shrugged. "My home. It's not too far from the local airport if you want to leave."

Heero considered the idea but shook his head. "I'll stay."

Phillip smiled. "Good. Come on, I've already eaten but there's still plenty of food. The kitchen's this way."

His cheerful voice faded away as Heero stayed where he was, trying hard to remember and forget. After a moment, he felt as though something was calling him and he followed obediently, trailing after the blonde. It was although Dr. J. was giving him another assignment-he felt no need to oppose the call and was raised to follow. A new puppet master had picked up the strings.

*****

A dimension away, a silken haired mistress watched a fake moon, a content and victorious smile on her face. The image of all Sailor Scouts gathered together appeared before her, each basking in their planetary color.

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto and Sailor Mini-Moon," she whispered softly, counting the Scouts off on her fingers. "Soon you will pay."

Her attention was turned to a dark and brooding color off to the side. The dark purple color that was Sailor Saturn. "Don't worry, Sailor Saturn. Soon, the dark ones will be united with a greater addition then anything foreseen. You won't have to be tied up with those pathetic wretches for much longer." A long finger reached up to touch the violent color. "I know that you don't belong with them, just as you will soon know."

*****

Hotaru shivered uncontrollably and glanced around. It felt as though someone had been caressing her mind…reaching into her soul. She watched as her friends continued talking on the way to the temple and hoped that no one noticed her sudden quiet. She had always felt alone and distant but each passing day did nothing but increase that feeling.

The image of the boy they'd seen in the orb floated to her mind. 'Heero…I know you. I know you're coming here. And I know that you're not suppose to but I can't help the feeling I have, the feeling that I know you.' Her dark eyes shut. 'and I can't help it if I want to meet you. Please Heero, please hurry. I can't keep this secret much longer.'

*****


	4. Complications, Complications...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master Chapter Four

Complications, Complications…

Hotaru smiled contently at the passing clouds, wishing each on that passed by a good day. _Not that I needed to_, she thought ruefully. _What do clouds have to worry about except going where they want and doing what they will? Clouds should be envied but no on seems to notice how easy the giant masses of fluff live. _Hotaru and her friends-Amara, Michelle, Setsuna and Rini- were nearly at the Hikawa Temple, Ray's temple, and her mind seemed to focus on anything _but_ the task at hand. _Heero Yuy, you're…coming. I can feel it._

Rini sat between Amara and Setsuna, happily chatting away with the princess of Pluto. Her pink head was bobbing in time with some music playing on the radio, a song by one of the many popular boy bands from America. Hotaru smiled secretly. The pink haired girl proclaimed herself to be madly in love with one of the teens, going as far as planning her own wedding to the singer. Black hair shimmered lightly in the sunlight as Hotaru leaned onto the car's window, a soft smile playing across the girl's pale skin before sleep sank in to claim her.

…but rolled away moments later as a shadowy figure gently shook the dark warrior awake.

Hotaru yawned and absently rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Peering out the window, she was surprised to see that the sun had already set, the millions of stars in the skies already twinkling merrily in the black, velvety sky. "I had no idea that it would be so late when we reached the temple," she squinted her eyes but her view was still blurred by some haze, "neither did I guess that it would be so foggy. I can hardly see."

A dark chuckle was emitted from behind the girl.

Hotaru whirled around, not yet frightened but still very cautious of whatever was behind her. Instead of seeing her friends as she'd hoped but not truly expected, the girl saw nothing but more of the same darkness. It seemed to press up on her, suffocating her with its humidity and heat. Hotaru tried to turn back to the window but it had disappeared as well. _Not that I really expected anything else._

The girl mentally sighed and whispered the password to unlock her Planet's power and transform into a fighter of some worth.

"Saturn Crystal Power!"

A flood of darkness poured from the dark crystal. Hotaru gasped in surprise and ripped the accursed thing from her chest. It gleamed black, a black so dark that it was visible through the fog surrounding it. And it grew. By the Goddess it grew. Soon it was tall enough to stand higher than even Darien and Amara. And it didn't stay in its original shape.

As it grew, the black jewel transformed itself into some sort of fiendish creature that vaguely resembled a slouched human.

Hotaru stepped back apprehensively. "W-what is this?" she demanded timidly to the silence. Instead of answering, it only pressed upon her with new strength and diligence. Hotaru tried to step away, to turn from the sight but her movements were slow and awkward. It was as though she was drowning in slow motion.

The creature stopped growing and a closer inspection revealed a slouched woman with venomously long silver hair. Except that the hair was now being dyed by the jewel to a dark coal black shade. With her head still hidden by wisps of silvery-soon-to-be-black bangs, the only other thing Hotaru could make out of her was the long and enormous robe the woman was wearing. Hotaru took a few deep breaths to fight the panic that threatened to overwhelm her and tried to clear her mind. "I just have to remember what Amara taught me. There's always something I can use to my advantage…I just have to find it. Oh gods what's going on? I can hardly breathe." Hotaru's voice turned into a steady weeping and choking sound as she collapsed to her knees. "I can't fight, not without my locket. What can I do? Amara? Michelle? Setsuna? Please help me!"

Hotaru's attention was focused sorely on forcing heavy breaths through her lungs that the slow steady approach of the woman went undetected until the robed figure lay a cool hand upon the girl's arm. "You look sick. Are you o.k.?"

Hotaru stared at the thing that her precious crystal had transformed into. Instead of possessing demon-like qualities that Hotaru had first suspected, the woman looked just like that, a woman. Albeit a very familiar looking one.

Hotaru breathed in sharply. "Queen Serenity?"

A hearty laugh escaped from the woman's pale features that did look very, almost disconcertingly like the ancient Queen of the Moon Kingdom. But the coloring was off. The woman's black hair held a few strands of its previous silver pigment and her eyes flashed a deep mysterious black. But other than that, she could pass by as the Queen herself. If Hotaru hadn't noticed the faint but still present scar on her forehead. A scar the shape of a crescent moon. The symbol of Lunarian Royalty.

The woman's eyes twinkled in delight. "You give me far too much honor, Princess Hotaru."

Hotaru blushed brightly. "Forgive me. It's just that you look so much like the Queen."

Another string of pearly laughter danced from the woman's mouth. "I know. I do get that all the time. I myself have noticed the resemblance." Hotaru missed the flash of hate in those dark eyes. "I consider it a blessing." She stood gracefully. "Can I help you up?"

Hotaru stood shakily. Looking around, she saw not the black darkness but a very peaceful lagoon hidden by dozens of weeping willows. It was still dark as Hotaru turned her gaze heavenward, noticing the silvery moon and the skies countless arrays of stars. "Where am I?"

"Oh, this is my, call it home if you will. I live here with the stars and birds to keep me company. I must admit that I was overwhelmed with joy when you decided to visit me. And I'm sorry about that. I needed something to use to help connect my home to you."

"Visit you? No, I didn't mean to come here. It's not like I don't want to stay or anything, "Hotaru explained hurriedly as a spasm of pain crossed the woman's fair features, "it's just that I have so many things I must do. I don't even know where this place is. I don't even know who _you_ are!"

The woman looked at Hotaru confusedly. "You mean to say you don't know? Hotaru, we're inside of you! This is a real place, I admit but you came here by yourself. At the moment you're projecting yourself to this place. You came to my home by your own free will and all I did was open the door. Please don't go just yet! I've been so alone, so very alone."

Those simple words chilled Saturn to the bone as her own loneliness was wretched from the past to present itself again, to torture her as she saw another who held the same pain inside. She looked at the shimmering moon a moment and a sorrowful sound escaped from her lips. "I'll stay. But only for awhile. I would stay longer if I could. And I promise to come as often as I can." The look of triumph that flashed across the woman's face went unnoticed as well as the clear look of calculating that sized up the small warrior of Saturn. Hotaru tried to remember something the woman had said but a fog of forgetfulness was settling over her. Her eyes seemed to frown in concentration. "You said you needed my locket to…"

"To connect with each other. That's all. I didn't do anything to it, this is all in your brain of course. Please forgive me for not saying this earlier. My name is Mal Captivo." A brilliant smile lit Mal's face. "And I will wait for your visits with thrill and eagerness." Her eyes acquired a far away look. "I believe your friends need you now, Princess. Please visit me. I'll understand and I'll help you with whatever I can." Her head bowed slightly. "Goodbye for now."

Hotaru gasped awake as Amara shook her gently awake. Her body reacted to the touch with such backlash that Hotaru hit her head on the car's ceiling.

Chuckles sounded from all around her. "Have a bad dream?" Amara asked good-naturedly. Hotaru turned to stare at her.

*****

A dark storm was moving in. For that, Phillip was thankful. The storm would cover his entrance into this dimension. He had to admit that their passage through the two dimensions and the commotion it would cause had worried him no little amount.

Behind him, a dark shape loomed, following his lead with blind loyalty. No, Phillip thought cynically. Not loyalty. Indifference. The person behind him gave no care to what would happen to himself. All that he cared about was to fulfill the mission. Any missions assigned were completed with astonishing accuracy and flawlessness. A frightening thought if one were to dwell on it long. Phillip was not such a person.

When Phillip had first heard of Heero Yuy, he'd taken the privilege of accessing any data about this so called super human and was surprised to find the number of files on Heero Yuy, a pacific leader who'd been assassinated by the now non-existent OZ Organization. However, dozens of leads were presented about dozens of people who also held the name 'Heero Yuy.'

The leads had proven worthless and though a number of the boys were the same age as the one Phillip was assigned to find, none matched the description of ruthlessness and calculating precision. Until he'd managed to eavesdrop on a conversation about the popular pacifist leader Relena Dorlien. _Pacifists_, Phillip thought angrily. _They talked of peace without wars. Such ideas were idiocy. Pacifists were nothing but cowards hiding behind a shield a peace that they could drop at any moment. Such people couldn't and never would be trusted-at least not by those who knew better._

The idea of the killing machine Heero and the peaceful leader Dorlien being connected was staggering. How the two received the other's presence without a major conflict was nothing short of a miracle. When he'd discovered that there were five such children running around with such power, Phillip nearly had a fit. It didn't take too long to discover the five pilot's whereabouts and with the information provided to him by his Queen, Phillip needed less than a month to bring Heero Yuy to his side. And so there they were, with Phillip leading Heero dutifully through a dark and deep forest on the ruling planet of this dimension. _Soon_, he thought, _I'll be rewarded. And then, me and my brother will go back to our own dimension_. A smile flickered on his face as he closed in on their destination.

Not too far behind, Heero quickly calculated what his surroundings were, how he could use them to his advantage and what the blonde man before him was planning. It was obvious from Phillip's rushed stride that they were going to see the man's leader, an event that Heero was anticipating from the first few days spent in that icy cabin. Heero was still dressed in his new trademark clothing-a long, black trenchcoat, baggy black jeans hiding a multitude of weapons, a black muscle shirt and a pair of fingerless leather gloves. Already, many of his scars were fading away but the three on his face-one below his left eye, a cross shaped scar on his right cheek and the long scar running from beneath his right ear beneath his shirt-still plastered themselves on his harsh yet young face. Hidden beneath the fold of the trenchcoat, Heero could still feel the sliced skin on his arms, yet another tattoo of his previous life.

Phillip swung his head around to look into the deep cobalt eyes. His cleared his throat with a tint of nervousness before smiling and bringing a hand up to brush the strands of blonde hair from his face. "Heero, I know that you want to see my boss and all but I'm not sure that she's going to be taking visitors right now. You'll have to wait here a minute, that all right?"

Heero said nothing but made no movement to follow the tall blonde as he moved away. Instead, the teen took the time to inspect his surroundings more thoroughly. Thunder roared through the heavens and lightening raced across the sky in jagged streaks as though it was racing itself. The smell of rain was everywhere, both refreshing and dispiriting as it cleansed the forest. Birds chirped merrily high in the trees while owls hooted warnings of the coming downfall. Occasionally a branch high above snapped from the pressure of roaming squirrels while the bushes swayed from the passing movements of foxes and stray cats. Then came the rain.

*****

Serena stared from the only window in the room, watching as the rain fell from its heavenly place on high. _How does it feel to fall so far? How does it feel to fall so far to reach the only place you want to be, only to be rejected? How does the rain feel?_ A single tear cascaded down her pale cheek as she lovingly caressed the picture of her and Darien, standing together in a loving embrace that day so long ago.

__

I always fall for my friends. I always try to be the best for them. Do they accept me? Or am I like the rain, falling so far to be rejected at the end?

Outside, a dreary mist of falling water droplets began to fall as Serena watched the depressing shade of gray hiding what was once a clear blue sky.

*****

At first, it was nothing but a light mist, barely wetting the forest's life. Then the thunder roared again and the rain followed its command to drench the pathetic creatures below. The mist became a light drizzle and the thunder roared in outrage as lightening raced across the sky as though proving the point. Drizzle became spray which turned into a steady pour of wet water. The birds still chirped happily in their sheltered homes, sometimes letting out a pitch of outrage as the branches protecting them from the rain broke from the pressure before flying off to a new location. A single fox walked depressingly in the rain, stopping to lick its paws before continuing on its way with its tail placed firmly between hind legs. Lightening raced and thunders roared and soon even the chirping birds were silenced from the amazing view of the falling drops of rain.

"Why are you standing in the rain?"

Heero stood still as the shadow he'd been watching walked from its concealment to reveal a cloaked figure with wisps of silver escaping from beneath the cowl. It wasn't too hard to figure out who the male was. "Sydin. Brother of Phillip." His tone was indifference but with a touch of acknowledgement.

Sydin smiled as he removed his cloak. Beneath it he was still dry as the falling rain hit an invisible shield protecting him from its chill. Heero acknowledged the man's elvish features but made no outer sign of bafflement.

"So," Sydin purred, a hand curled up to remove stay strands of hair from his perfect face, "You're the one our Mistress is so…dedicated to. Interesting. In all my dreams, I'd never guessed that one who would hold the awesome powers you're rumored to possess would look so," his tongue quickly wetted thin lips, "young."

Heero watched as Sydin advanced and immediately assessed the silver haired one's weakness. His face remained expressionless but his muscles readied themselves motionlessly.

Sydin stopped a few yards away from the piercing glare of those intriguing cobalt eyes and forced a laugh. "You don't really think I'd harm you in anyway? It would be unprofessional." His eyes took on a shrewd look and his voice became a steady and deep purr. "Besides, we are on the same side, are we not? So please don't feel threatened by me. I wouldn't pose the least of a threat to you, Heero Yuy."

Heero said nothing but with a quick movement had Sydin on the ground with a wicked blade to his throat. His voice was cold as he replied "We may be allies but I've never trusted even my closest allies." His knife disappeared in a quick motion as Heero backed away to his first position and the next second Sydin was standing and brushing off patches of dirt.

"Be like that," he hissed as he turned and vanished beneath the trees. Heero still remained tense for many minutes after his 'ally' left the area, watching the path the elf had taken before allowing his mind to continue evaluate the sounds of the forest.

*****

"Serena was suppose to be here hours ago! Where is she?"

Ray stormed around the small room that was hers in the temple. Lita and Mina crowded worriedly around the bedroom's only window but their vision was obscured by the torrent of rain. In the middle of the room was a small oak table loaded down with comics and books that were going to be used in the group's study time. Now they lay forgotten as water flooded the streets and storm drains and as thunder roared to life. 

Amy stood just outside, beneath the roof's protective shield from the rain. Her specialty was water and even now, a strange sensation was filling the blue headed girl's soul, a connection to the otherwise savage onslaught of rainfall. Her eyes were closed in pure pleasure, the smell of faint touch of water sending blissful chills down her spine.

Ray continued stalking the room in an attempt to further her brain's thinking and come up with a plausible solution to their leader's absence. "Damn it! She's always late but never this late. And she would have called. Where is she?" A definite touch of worry showed itself.

Luna left her sprawled position to walk up to the fretting girl and lazily stretched out. "You shouldn't be so worried Ray. Serena's always been late for some reason or other. I wouldn't be surprised if she called to say she was 'stuck' in the arcade and had to stay there until the rain stopped falling. Or she could be at home. You know how thunder scares her. She'll be hiding under a ton of blankets when we find her, probably sleeping. Just let it be." Her sleek black form contrasted with that of the pure whiteness of Artemis who was sleeping contently not too far away.

Ray sighed. "I guess so but…I don't know." Her eyes turned to the storm outside. "I'm getting really bad vibes from this storm. It's not natural."

Luna watched Ray's face intently for a moment and then curled up in the girl's lap. "I know the feeling but then again, what storm is?"

*****

Phillip watched from a distance and began laughing as his brother showed up, the angry expression on that elvish face quite humorous.

"Oh shut up," Sydin snapped angrily as he sat on the ground and absently traced ancient emblems on the soggy floor. His face was still twisted in rage and defeat-well, momentary defeat. Already a new plan to capture the boy was forming itself in Sydin's garnet eyes.

Phillip stepped forward with a sigh. "You should have known better," his said in a teasing voice. "Or you could have been smart enough to have asked me first whether you'd get him. It's not like you to be so reckless. Mistress Serne would be displeased-"

"Our mistress would never be displeased with us. A bit annoyed, yes, but never fully displeased. And besides, she always promised I could have one. Just to know how they taste." A lustful glare lit up his eyes. "And this one looks extremely delicious."

Phillip smiled viciously. "Don't try to attack him. You'll get a nasty surprise."

Sydin glared at his younger brother. "You think I don't know that!" he demanded shrilly. "He has to be powerful to catch Serne's eye. A straight out attack would be fatal. Do you know what happened? He was ready to kill me if I went any closer! He would have killed me! Me, Serne's top assassin and spy. And what's worse is that he would have done it." Sydin's voice faded to a grumbling sound.

Phillip laughed. Brushing a hand through his blonde hair, a ridiculing smile matched his tone of voice as he teased "So that's what's bothering you! You're angry because a mere child would be able to defeat you in battle!"

Sydin glared but said nothing.

Still laughing, Phillip jokingly suggested "If you're so worried, why don't you kill him? No wait, Serne needs him. Hmm, well, you could always turn him into an ally."

Sydin whirled to yell at his brother, a flash of silver in one hand catching the light of the moon. "How exactly would I do that?" His dagger was gripped tightly in one hand while the other was firmly holding onto the neck of Phillip's shirt. "The boy wouldn't trust me if I laid down naked before him." His grip loosened and pushed Phillip back, nearly forcing him to the muddy ground.

"Jeez, I don't know. But you should just go like you always do. I mean-wait, no nevermind. It wouldn't work on him. Well, how about you show him around?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's never been here before. He'll need a guide. And I'll be conveniently busy-not that he trusts me. So you'll show him around. And don't lie to him! I swear, the boy got's some sort of lie detector. He nearly cut off my head when we first got here and I said we were still on the same planet. He was like 'tell me the truth or die.' I thought he'd really cut off my head when I said we switched dimensions but he put away his knife and didn't say anymore."

Sydin looked thoughtfully to where Heero was standing. A cruel smile was on his face. "I see your point. In a place like this, you have to trust someone. And if he trusts me, I may be able to get some sort of…arrangement between us two. After all, he does look so delicious."

*****

Serne lay with a knowing air, summoning the colors of the Scouts once again. The once radiant blue of the Moon was fading while the others had begun waning themselves. Still off to the side was the violent purple, now joined with a vicious and dark shade of cobalt blue. She gently caressed the two colors gently, calling up their images.

The dark green of Pluto flickered. Serne frowned and focused on it. It only flickered when the girl was messing around in time. A most annoying habit but one that caused her no end of frustration. If Pluto knew of her…no, there was nothing the warrior could do. Even if she knew, it was too late for her to do anything since she was forbidden to change time. Pluto would only be allowed to watch as her world unraveled once again. Laughing, Serne turned her attention to the view of the one 'Scout' who was anything but that.

Sailor Scouts were champions of love, justice and peace. This one pretended to be a Scout but was called the champion of destruction. She could never truly be a Scout.

Hotaru was glancing around warily, still cautious from her 'dream.' Around her were the Outer Scouts. The Sailor Scout Uranus seemed to be standing over her protectively. _Ironic. You think to protect her when you once wished to destroy her and soon she'll be the one to destroy you._ The other two, Pluto and Neptune, stood around her like parents. Or children, watching over a precious but still imitation doll. A cruel smile played on Serne's lips. "Play time's nearly over. She won't be you're little doll for much longer so enjoy her while you can, Scouts."

But movement drew her eyes to the startling sight of two malicious Prussian eyes and the handsome face accompanying them. Serne held in a gasp at the sight of him. Never had she imagined such an image. His chilling eyes were watching, calculating everything around him. But he stopped to stare at her. And Serne felt the true fear of death in his gaze. Is image had formed while she was focusing on the Scouts and though it was just an image, he seemed to be able to see he the same way she saw him.

__

Such power. Who could have known that one would have such power? And with his power, nothing will stop me from taking my revenge. The nagging fear, the chill that passed through her refused to settle down. She ignored it and let the feel of her soon triumph overpower any doubts she might have had. _Soon._

*****

Duo was standing in the middle of the kitchen. He knew that for a fact. The chandeliers chimed gracefully above him, set off by a cool breeze. They weren't lit yet, the day still too early, but the light of the sun passing through their clear pieces gave the room an eerie feel. And the noise wasn't helping either.

Wufei suddenly appeared but Duo wasn't sure whether the Chinese had always been seating in one of the room's cushioned seats, unnoticed, or whether the pilot had also been whisked away like he himself had been. The last thing he remembered was laying his head down on the velvet pillow and trying to forget about the murderous expression on Heero's face…

"What the hell?" Wufei leaped up and whirling around in apparent confusion. The chair he'd been seating on was thrown backwards from the sudden movement but the motion of its falling to the floor seemed to be held in slow motion as it fell sluggishly in a casual way before crashing to the floor with a crack. Wufei jumped at the noise and turned to discover that the chair had mysteriously righted itself and that he was not alone in the strange view of the pilots' kitchen. He pointed an accusing finger towards the braided pilot and questioned "Where are we, Maxwell? Why am I not resting in my bed and dreaming of my people?"

Duo shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I just got here myself. Why don't you just sit down? There's got to be someone behind this-"

He was interrupted by a soft "Oh!" and the two turned to see Quatra sitting in a discomforting position between two chairs. One leg was tangled in the arm rest of a chair while the other seemed to be curled around the chair's leg and his upper body seemed to have fallen into the lap of the other chair.

Duo laughed as Wufei gave Quatra a look and turned around to continue mumbling choice phrases.

Quatra gave them a pined smile and turned to get out of the chairs.

And found a pair of hands helping him from the tangle. Trowa said nothing but within moments the two joined the other pair near the room's entrance.

"Does anyone have an idea about what's going on?" Quatra asked as he rubbed a sore spot on his arm.

Everyone shrugged. "Last thing I remember is going to bed," Duo announced as he unconsciously began braiding stray strands of his hair. "As soon as I closed my eyes, poof. I'm here. Kind of weird though, I mean I was planning on raiding the kitchen tonight. At first I thought that's what I was doing but-"

"Enough, Maxwell. We don't need you're life's history," Wufei snarled. He looked towards the ceiling. "I am suppose to be with the spirits of my people! Who dares to interfere with my dreams?"

Trowa shook his head. "I had just fallen asleep as well."

Quatra shrugged. "Then we must still be asleep."

What are you doing in my dreams?" Wufei snarled. "Leave this place at once!"

"Hey chill. You're in my dream, remember. I got here first so it's my dream."

"Duo, you were the first one to go to sleep!" Quatra chided.

"So? First come, first serve. Remember?"

Trowa shook his head. "This is probably a combination of all our dreams."

"Then why are we in the kitchen? I mean, I would have liked to have been in a nightclub or something but a kitchen!"

"Duo!"

Wufei snarled again. "Isn't it obvious. We're here because the spirits want to tell us something. And it has to do with this kitchen. NOT your nightclub Maxwell!"

"What's so important about the kitch-"

The four lapsed into silence. Trowa cleared his throat and said the forbidden word. "Heero."

"MAN! Even when I'm trying to sleep, that guy bugs me!" Duo scratched the back of his head with a bemused expression on his face. 

"I'm surprised to see you got it. And so quickly." From behind them entered a single woman with long green hair. She was wearing a sailor suit of some sort with long, key-like staff. Her miniskirt was cut very short and revealed long, slender legs. "My name is Sailor Pluto and I've come to ask you for your help."

The four said nothing but each tensed. Moments passed in silence and Quatra finally stepped forward. "My name's Quatra. How did you get here and where is 'here?'"

Sailor Pluto smiled, easing the strict expression on her face. "I have the power to…enter dreams. And I've entered your dreams and collided them, to make it more convenient for the both of us. This way, I'll be able to get your answers all together and you'll be able to conference if you need to."

Silence returned and this time it was Wufei who stepped up. His face was twisted in distrust and suspicion. "Who are you? I know nothing of a 'Sailor Pluto' and it's obvious that it's not your true name."

Sailor Pluto nodded in acknowledgement and replied "My true name is of no importance to you at this moment because I don't exist on your world."

"Woah wait a minute. You don't exist and yet here you are. Is it just me or is there some seriously contradicting facts in there?" Duo's cheerful tone hid the seriousness in his manner to all but the most observant.

A smile lit the woman's face. "Please, I know you won't believe me at first but what I will tell you is the truth. I come from another dimension-"

The stunned and flat out disbelief on the pilots' faces gave her a moment of pause. 

"-and I know where your friend is."

"What 'friend' would that be?" Trowa's soft yet commanding voice asked with respect but had an undertone of disdain.

Pluto brushed the bangs from her face and gripped her staff tighter. She looked a little frightened and whispered a single word.

Quatra stepped forward. "I'm sorry we didn't hear you."

She looked at them and her horror was crystal clear. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "His name is Heero Yuy." Her voice quivered and she looked as though she was expecting someone to rush in and beat her for even daring to mention his name.

Quatra was stunned. "Heero?" She flinched but nodded. "You know where Heero is?"

Pluto nodded again. Her face twisted up in anger and her voice was enraged. "He was transported to my dimension from this one hundreds of years ago. Since then, the demon has caused the deaths of billions of people and is no longer content with just the killing of the innocents. Already, he holds my princess captive along with the rest of her personal body guards. It is said that he tortures them daily and forces them to feasts upon the flesh of the ones he's killed. Even now, he will be forcing them to watch as he rips out the heart of a child and cooks its body, serving it as a delicacy."

Wufei stared at her a moment and began to laugh. The laughter ripped through his throat and soon he was lying on the floor, gasping for air between fits of laughter. Duo soon was laughing as well while Quatra settled for displaying an unsettled look and Trowa remained silent as ever.

Duo held out a hand and tried to calm down. Wheezing, he looked the enraged female in the eye and asked "How is it that Heero's been gone for about two days but you say he's been gone for hundreds of years? And wouldn't he have, oh I don't know, died of old age? I don't know about my friends but got to say you've must be mad or something."

Wufei smirked. "Somehow, I cannot see Heero Yuy 'torturing' his victims. No, Heero prefers to give them quick deaths. He does not like to become associated with his victims in anyway. The Heero you speak of cannot be the one we know."

Pluto's face became desperate. "Please, you must listen to me! I've come from the future to help change the past-"

"So now you're not only from another dimension-which is crazy enough, you're also from the future where Heero's some sort of raging, immortal demon set on destroying your world who's also become a cannibal and tears out the hearts of little kids. Is that it?" Duo turned to look at the other pilots. "Does anyone here believe this?"

"No, please! What can I do to get you to believe me?"

Trowa looked at her with a sharp glare. "If you're from another dimension, how is it possible for you to get to this one?"

Pluto held out her staff. "This is the Key of Time. It opens the Gates of Time and Space. I was able to transport an image of myself to this dimension to get your help. I can get you to my dimension and when you're finished there, I'll be able to transport you back. I myself cannot truly leave my own dimension, this is the best I can do. Please. You can help your friend and he will be able to return here."

Trowa looked over the wooden staff with disinterest. "If this is the best proof you can offer, I'm afraid we cannot believe you."

The pilots turned away and began walking away. "Do you think, if we go to our own bedrooms, we'll see ourselves sleeping?" Duo asked impishly.

Quatra shrugged. "Who knows. I think that if we're sleeping, all we have to do is go to sleep to leave this dream. It's worth a shot."

"Wait!" Pluto's hand shot towards her chest to a crystal lying between her breasts. "I have some more…proof."

The four stopped. Wufei yawned. "This is going no where. I say we ignore her and go to bed."

"We should give her one last chance," Quatra argued. "It's not like it'll hurt us."

"True, I guess."

Pluto fingered her locket nervously. _Last shot_. She closed her eyes and slowly forced her powered back into the locket, detransforming to her alter-self. In a flash of light, Sailor Pluto was replaced by Setsuna Meioh.

The four looked at her with an astounded look. Pulling up a chair, Duo motioned for her to take a seat. "So, you're from the future…"

*****

Author's note:

-Sorry, it's been awhile since my last post but…hey, I got a life you know! And besides, my AOL (DAMN AOL TO THE BURNING PITS OF HELL AND BEYOND) has been acting up, *again*. So, yea…hehehe.

-I have this really dark and evil story in my head. Heheheh. The first few parts of this story will be just like an 'intro' but soon we'll get into the dark and gory part of the story I made up and just _love!!!_ Yes, I've been called evil by no few amount of people.

-I don't think U2 should have gotten that one awards. I don't know which one it was but Red Hot Chile Peppers were competing with them and the Peppers should have won.

-If you're looking for an AWESOME read and you've played FF7, you've gotta read A Long Hard Raod by Twig. Just awesome.

-Yes, right now I'm just stalling 'cause I really don't want to stop writing but…*sigh* oh well. In case you didn't notice, I decided to do some spring cleaning on this chapter. Not like it's important or anything.


	5. Changes

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master Chapter Five

Changes

"…And so we, the guardians, have been assigned to protect the Princess and Prince as well as guard the universe they live in. It is the task we have carried out all our lives and will continue doing so until eternity lies down for rest."

Sailor Pluto closed her eyes in the blissful silence that had enveloped the room, silence that threatened to choke and suffocate but had a strange relaxing feel to it as well. 'Now there are no more secrets,' she thought with a mix of release and terror. 'What they do with the knowledge of our kingdom cannot be known until the moment…'

Slowly, the four pilots seemed to come alive and each took their time to either grimace in disbelief or to glance at each other as if making sure the others heard the amazing and staggering story of what was named the 'Moon Kingdom.'

It was Duo who first broke the silence as he cleared his throat noisily, the battle between his senses and knowledge evident on his face. 'Who can believe this…fable? Nothing is like that here…' But she'd said she'd come from another dimension. 'Is it so hard to believe? Of course it is! And this whole 'mystical kingdom' story is beyond belief. Who'd believe her?' and yet something inside told him that already, the past year or so of peace had been difficult enough with nothing to do and that any distraction with the possibility of fighting again would be accepted to him almost immediately. 'Is this what you were feeling Heero?'

Wufei snorted in outright incredulity. Smirking at the green haired woman sitting across the oak dining table, the young Chinese said in a terse voice, "What exactly do you expect to gain with telling us this knowledge, woman? We know very well that such knowledge doesn't come without a price. What do you expect us to do about your precious Moon Kingdom?"

"I don't know what to expect as well Miss Setsu-I mean Sailor Pluto," Quatra added with an empathetic shake of his head. "I mean, it is rather difficult to believe this story of yours. For all we know, it could be just a trap on your half to capture us. I mean," he gestured to their surroundings, a beautifully decorated dining room in the pilots' mansion, deep in a forest of Asia, "this is rather convincing but we pilots have been through enough experiences to be more then extremely skeptical of anything we find. Especially if it just given to us, like how you just entered and told us of your origins without any mention of what it will do for you. To be, that is extremely suspicious."

"You guys out to chill out," Duo said with a shrug. "I mean, is it really so difficult to believe?"

Wufei jumped from his chair. "Are you truly so naïve Maxwell that you would believe the word of a fighter? A trained warrior who's tale includes unicorns and fairies? Do you really feel safe enough to trust her? She's a woman!" The last part he spat out like a curse and refused to seat, glaring at his braided partner.

Duo shook his head in reply. "Think about it guys. She obviously has some special powers that aren't from around here. And if you'd take a minute, her 'fantasy' isn't really all that different from what we call real life. Hell, some of the stuff she says happened in her world are suspiciously close to stuff that happened on ours."

"Yet another fact that she lies! This weakling must have thought to trick us by making up a story with events that have happened in our history! Do not be so weak that you would allow her to cloud your mind and agree to follow her into whatever hell she came from!"

"Wufei," Quatra said sharply."

The Chinese boy only scrowled and continued standing as if to prove his point.

Trowa's soft voice carried over to them "Wufei, would you rather go and discover her a liar or wait while she may yet be telling the truth?" His face turned up to her. "I will go with you but you must first tell me what to expect."

Pluto's eyes remained half closed as though reliving some nightmarish reality and her whisper was barely audible. "I cannot tell you what to expect. The exchange between these two dimensions has destroyed my ability to see and guide the future and had deteriorated my memory of the past. The last I clearly remember of the first few months when Heero Yuy," the name earned her a wince," was perhaps the night of his arrival and still all I can see is the heavy rainfall. But, if I can take you there, it will be well enough time for you to take care of the problem before…"

"Before what?" Quatra was chilled to see the effect the boy known as Heero had on people.

Pluto's eyes opened wide, exposing garnet eyes trembling with fear and unshed tears. "Before he gains his powers. It will take him exactly two weeks for his body to adjust to the change and fully utilize the powers he has been…granted."

"Powers? You mean the stuff you were telling us, about Heero going on a rampage and shit is true?" Duo's blue eyes shone with disbelief. "That's taking it too far lady."

"Finally you see the truth beyond her sayings!" Wufei exalted in triumph while sneering at Pluto.

"What…powers exactly are you talking about Miss Pluto?" Quatra asked, trying to hide his own uncertainty. 'Is she speaking truly? I can't tell anymore. This is too much to take in. Surely she cannot be telling the truth. Heero's not like that.' The image of Heero's eyes came back to him. 'Is he?'

"He has awesome powers over nearly everything. His strength is incredible." She looked down at the splintering wooden stick in her hands. "I once had a staff made of the most powerful metal found in our universe. He broke it in his bare hands like a toothpick the first time we fought. I was forced to take up this imitation to make up for the loss but his strength alone had destroyed many cities. He only used his real power when he wanted to be amused or was following orders."

Wufei grunted. "And who is the one supplying these orders?" he asked sarcastically.

Green hair shook in defeat. "We never had time to find out. Never had an opportunity to even take the chance of finding out. Sailor Uranus learned of Heero's steadfastness the night she tried to follow him to his lair. One minute he was before her and the next, she was nearly killed in a simple movement. He was called away by some voice or she would have died that night."

"Just great." Wufei's shoulders slumped.

"Miss Pluto, why was Heero the one who was taken? I believe that the five of us together would have been far more effective then just a single warrior. And Heero's loyalties are not easily given nor swayed. I cannot understand why he should be the only one transferred to another dimension," Quatra's polite but to the point voice asked.

"Yea. I mean, the Great Destroyer would be better then Heero. And while we at it, where's his Gundam, you know?"

"No clue. I was told that he had a great machine of destruction but it was never shown."

"Told?" Trowa's commanding voice asked. "Who could have told you?"

Pluto smiled ruefully. "If we were alone, only us Scouts, we never would have known of this dimension, Heero's true origins or of your existence. Luckily, one from their side was persuaded to enlighten us."

*****

A single petal fell.

All that was or ever would be important to her lay in the folds of that silently falling petal. The only thought in her mind was that it was falling and she had no urge to catch it.

Light blue eyes blinked at the thought. Who am I? She was surrounded by a pulsing blackness, long blonde hair coiling around her like a great silken blanket. Beneath the thin veil of blonde strands she lay naked but was either unaware or uncaring of that fact. Her pale, soft skin radiated against the darkness like a beacon. The darkness pulsed against it and she sat up to watch the falling of the petal, the dying of the rose.

Still, she felt no desire to do anything but watch in a casual calm as her world withered away. The petal fell softly to her ears.

__

Princess Serena.

She turned to the familiar and chiding voice and saw only an enlarged image of that single petal, still falling through the black void. Some part of her began to want to catch it but the rest wanted to watch it fall, rebelliously wishing that it would fall faster.

Faces began to appear on that single petal, sending her into a whirl of memories. A tall dark haired man walked along with a kind smile and easy laugh. He looks a few years older then me, she thought as she absently ran her fingers through her silk hair. Beside him walked a young girl, years younger then herself, but she seemed to catch the eye of the man and hold it to her. A surge of envy and bitterness ran through her own body, catching her with surprise. Why am I jealous?

The little girl laughed as well, bright pink hair done up in two ribbon-like knots at the top of her head swinging in the wind. The two were walking hand in hand, watching each other with more then a casual interest. The envious feelings disappeared with the faces and soon it was nothing but a red petal still falling.

She scrowled at it. "If you're going to fall, don't just hang there," she snapped but it ignored her and still fell. A closer look would have revealed the tint of black along the red petal's edge but she took no notice of it. The blankness took over and it crumbled in mid-flight into a dusty nothingness, fading into the emptiness of black.

__

Princess Serena. This time the voice took on a warning tone but still no one appeared to make themselves known and so she ignored the caution.

Turning again in escape, the rose dropped another of its petals and now there stood four figures in her view.

One was a raven haired priestess, broom in hand as she swept the floor of a shrine or temple. She winced at the image and could imagine the scathing remarks the girl's quiet lips unleashed. Memories shifted to the surface but her attention was turned to another whose hair was as blue as the sky. 

This one sat typing at a small computer, devoting herself to a life without the passion or liveliness she wanted in her own. This time, the image did not bring pain but a solitude and sorrow without meaning. 

Her eyes turned away to see instead one who looked angry and frustrated as she ran through a forest, tears thought hidden leaking through the corners of her eyes. She would have felt compassion for this one but her compassion was forced away in disgust by the anger in the girl. Anger and bitterness, scathing her with just its feel. 

She quickly left the image in search of another and found it with a sigh of relief. It was another like her. Blonde hair and sparkling eyes, this one with a ribbon done in her hair seemed as carefree and happy as she was herself. But there was a darkness clawing at her. The darkness forced its way through her life and she began to cry and whisper a name foreign to her. What was the matter? But instantly the girl's tears were washed away and she showed nothing of her agony. But it tore through her and she knew that she could not help this one because it was not allowed of her.

Tears glistened in her eyes but she blinked them clear when the petal fell before her. A part of her screamed to reach out, to grab it before it fell too far but still, she did not. What reason did she have to do so? The ones she saw either had no need for her or did not want her help. Tears brushed aside, she turned and closed her eyes a moment before opening them to see yet another petal, much larger then the others. On it stood four more but somehow she knew that they needed her. That they would accept her. 

She did not blink as the images came to her, one of a tall blonde but unlike herself and the other, this one had cut her hair to an almost boyish style. But she felt such sorrow from this one that she felt her heart would burst. Next to the one stood another with aquamarine colored hair and a natural grace though sorrow also clouded her face. They stood together and watched as a darkness tore over some city far away. The first stepped forward in anger but was held back by the other. The two watched and wept and she knew their pain as her own. But knew not what to do for she too wept at the sight of the majestic kingdom being destroyed by an evil too great to be stopped.

They faded and were replaced by that of a single warrior, standing alone by ivory gates, and a long metallic staff in hand with locks of dark green hair flowing to her waist. She also watched and wept at that sight as well as thousands of others, taking the blame of their death upon herself though she knew it to be no fault of her own. But the knowledge eased nothing and she found herself against unable to help as she turned her eyes to the last one.

But this one was younger then the others, holding herself with wounded heart and mind. Images flashed through both minds of the same battle and both knew their helplessness as full. Her straight black hair shimmered as she turned to weep and moan at the loss as though she knew too much and could do too little. Nothing could help to ease any of their pain and this time she could not hold back the painful torrent of tears as even the last faded.

__

Princess Serena.

This time, she found herself on a bare white platform, stretching farther then the eye could reach. Her bare skin was covered in a beautiful white gown that trailed behind her in an elegant show of pearls and diamonds sown into the hems. On her head was an arrangement of diamonds, cascading down her forehead and threaded into her hair that had been done up into two buns. Lace and trimming graced her dressed and she looked every part of the Princess the voice called her.

She took no notice of the change as a flooding of memories took over. Her previously empty mind recovered all the memories that had been hidden or forgotten and it hit her like a stream of ice cold water.

"Where…am I?" she gasped, shivering slightly. Serena looked around and suddenly a single petal appeared, on it a blur of everyone she knew. And it was falling.

"NO!" Serena screamed and raced towards it, arms outstretched in an attempt to catch it but every time she nearly grabbed the silky soft edges, they slipped through her fingers leaving behind their faint and lingering touch.

__

No? Why did you not reach for it before?

"Queen Serenity?" Serena turned slowly and all her memories from the Moon Kingdom returned as the always did when facing the beatific spirit of the Moon Queen. She curtsied and rose to see the Queen-her mother-dressed as always: silvery hair drooping down slender shoulders and over a dress similar to the one Serena wore. The two wore the same hairstyle and looked so much alike it was impossible not to see the resemblance.

A magnificent smile lit up the Queen's royal face but her eyes watched the falling petal. _You should have reached for that life, and would have caught it, if you truly wanted it._

Serena looked again at the petal, still drifting. "I do want that life," she answered with a slight quiver in her voice. "But I could not remember why I wanted it until my memory returned. Why could I not remember?"

__

You did not wish to.

Serena glanced at her mother. "Since when do my wishes mean a thing?" she questioned angrily. "My destiny has been shaped by everyone except myself. I was never allowed to do what I wished on the Moon Kingdom and now…"

__

Now, your wishes are hardly given any thought, Serenity finished for her thoughtfully. The Queen turned her daughter so the two looked eye to eye. _Are you truly unhappy, my daughter?_

Serena's eyes were cast downward. Her voice was trembling like the wind when she answered "I do not know. I do not know what to think anymore. My life…it is not my own. It has been designed for centuries and I cannot help but think that Small Lady was sent to me so that I would have no choice but follow Darien forever."

Serenity shook her head sadly. _When I sent you to the future, I had not given a thought to the possibility that you would be unhappy. Please forgive me, I have failed to protect you again._

Serena clasped her mother's hands. "No! If anything, it my own fault! You are not expected to protect me throughout my life! I should accept my fate with dignity. Mother, do not place any blame on yourself."

__

But you cannot live a life without love. You were not born to do so and your spirit would break if you were forced to. Serenity's eyes were pinched with sorrow. _But I do not know how to help you my daughter. Does your guardian know how you feel?_

"Luna?" Serena scoffed. "No, and you know her. She would lecture me until I felt my heart would break from shame."

__

Daughter, you are not bound to this life. You may choose to leave at anytime.

Serena closed her eyes tightly. "Yes, I know. But my friends need me mother. I cannot forget them after all they have done for me. And I know they will need me soon. Mother, I have to go back."

Serenity nodded sadly and grabbed her daughter's hand, hold it close before vanishing.

Serena nearly jumped from her bed. A fear gripped her heart until she realized she was in her room. "Whew." She glanced at the clock and yawned. "Only 3:00. That means," she muttered with a sleepy smile as she lay back down, "Lots more time for sleep."

In the morning, her meeting with her mother was nearly forgotten but bits of dream blurred memories came to her as she got ready for school. Only when she was brushing her hair did she clearly remember one thing. She had glanced at the picture of her and Darien and had forgotten everything as that bit of information presented itself as clear as daylight.

"I don't love him."

The brush dropped from her hands to the floor with a dull thud. 

*****

"An informant. Not bad." Duo yawned and half glanced at his watch before remembering where he was. He laughed half-heartily. "I never thought I'd get tired in a dream!"

Trowa ignored the sleepy pilot and stared straight into the eyes of the mysteriously enchanting green haired warrior. "What was this informant's name?"

"Her name was Serne."

*****

"Baka! Where were you!" Ray screamed at the listless Serena while walking towards the temple after school. She was still fuming about Serena's absence the afternoon before and took no notice of her friend's silence. "You always manage to forget about everything important to you! Can't you keep your mind on the important stuff for a single day? Or is that too hard for you? Gosh Serena, I have no clue how you'll act when your Queen. In fact, I don't want to know!"

Behind them, Mina, Amy and Lita walked guiltily as Ray let lose another insult and noticed Serena's silence but took it as her remorse over missing the meeting. Not that they'd really done anything. Serena had improved on school work so tutoring classes for her had stopped and no new enemies had appeared so the Scouts weren't needed. The only reason they kept meeting at the temple was to hang out but Serena had missed those as well.

"Ray, you should chill out. I mean, it's not like she missed anything-" Mina's attempt to cool down the priestess failed as Ray cut her off with an intense rage burning in her eyes.

"What! It doesn't matter if she missed anything or not! This is for her own good!"

"Her own good? Yelling at her is for her own good?"

Ray turned on Lita. "How else is she going to grow up and be a good queen? It's not like she'll suddenly just change over night. Come on you guys, all I'm doing is trying to help her out!"

"Well," Mina replied in a snobbish attitude, "why don't you ask Serena if she needs your help? I don't think anyone would want the help of a vicious tongued snake!"

Ray's ravens screamed warnings as their mistress suddenly went very quiet. "Fine," she said in even tones. "I guess you wouldn't want me to help you out in anything else. I'm obviously not up to your level of immaturity, Mina. And I'll never be. Why don't you go find yourself a new princess of Mars to help fight your battles? Don't ask me to save your butts because I quit."

The three other Scouts stood with their mouths gaping as the raven haired priestess turned and strode off without a glance back.

*****

"I bet you just trusted this Serne," Wufei sneered as he glared at the wall. 

Pluto shook her head ruefully. "To tell you the truth, when she first came to us, we turned her away with disbelief. We could not believe such things as what she said. Possible the same feeling you are feeling at the moment?" she asked humorously.

"Hump." Wufei contented himself with listening but refused to contribute to the conversation.

"She first came to us, battered and bruised almost to the point of death. Our princess healed her but we turned her out after hearing what she had to say. To this day," Pluto added sadly, "I will regret the decision."

The room was silent for a moment until Quatra cleared his throat and motioned for Pluto to continue.

"She told us of this new and destructive power coming from another dimension. Not even a month after she was seen, Heero Yuy came and began destroying everything. We spent all our energy finding her and when we did, she could barely speak but lived long enough to tell us of this dimension and Heero's true origins."

"We decided that I would go to find someone or something from his own dimension to persuade Heero to return to it but," she gripped the wooden staff in her hands, "he broke the Key to the Gates of Time and we were unable to do anything about him. Until we found this staff hidden deep within the folds of the Earth."

"It took us many years until we had the opportunity to even try to reach you here. And when we did," she took a deep breath, "it did not come without its consequences. In the time it took me to escape to your realm, the Sailor Scouts Uranus and Neptune were captured and added to his collection of the other Scouts-Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and the Princess. I am the only one left from my time and you are the only ones who could help us."

"Will you?"

The single request silenced the room for what seemed like hours.

With a single nod, Trowa agreed and while Wufei sneered, no one made any move to contradict him.

*****

"Come on Sydin. You may be able to go on forever without eating but I am a mere mortal-for the moment at least-who has to eat!" Phillip whined to his brother half-heartily. Sydin made no movement or reply. "Fine. By all means continue watching the kid. Jeez, have some compassion."

"Leave then. Don't drag your departure on, you'll wear out a person's patience faster then you already do. I still have much more to do for our Mistress before the setting sun reaches its destination and before I am allowed to take a break." Sydin gave the silent and nearly hidden form of Heero Yuy one last glance before turning away and removing his cloak. 

The rain had stopped falling less then five minutes ago, a fact for which he was both immensely grateful and yet morose over. Rain was never enjoyable to him but presented him a perfect opportunity to carry out his portrayal of a man needing shelter from the rain, an act that would gain him entrance to the Scouts' temple and a way to execute his mission.

Without the rain, he'd have to come up with a new plan. He smiled. No matter. These Scouts were easily fooled as previous missions proved. Even the weak Negaverse had been able to fool them.

He paused a moment, face contorted in concentration as he used his powers to disguise himself. Before Phillip could blink, there stood a man looking to be about twenty in place of his brother. Wearing an off-white shirt beneath a dark velvety vest and matching pants and standing with royal precision, his appearance screamed good looks, great taste, and much cash. He didn't hurt that his hair was dark black with streaks of blue and that his face bragged a clear complexion. As he inspected himself, Sydin muttered darkly about the 'fashionable' clothes of this city before readjusting his vest.

"Going out to play 'spy' again?" Phillip sniggered.

Sydin gave his brother a final glare but it looked extremely handsome with his present appearance that Phillip snorted back laughter. Ears burning, Sydin folded the cloak across one arm and walked away, soft grass crunching in his wake.

Phillip sighed and walked towards the nearest restaurant or concessions stand as his stomach grumbled in protest. The recent rain left a scent of cleanliness and innocence that reached through the park, newly washed air sweetening the smell all the more.

He was in such a hurry that the noticeable presence of four young women did not strike him as odd even when the impression given off by them was foreign though it reminded him of the Sailor Scouts. He knew he was to report the presence of the Outers as soon as he saw them and these four might be them. 

He gave a moment's pause but the sight of a fast food restaurant pushed the thought from his mind with the help of another grumble from his stomach.

Had he stayed another moment, another oddity would have appeared in the sudden presence of four shaken yet intimidating young boys. And if he were there, Phillip would have been oddly reminded of Heero.

*****

Heero was uncomfortably aware of the power he held. The power that sprang from his arrival in this world. And that it was growing.

All his relatively short life, Heero had always held power. Power to hurt, power to kill, power to destroy. It had been taught to him from the moment he was born and he was taught to increase it throughout his life, taught to control the power that had become as ingrained to him as it is to a child to call for its mother when in pain. And that power was far greater then anything anyone would have guessed.

All the pilots had such power but their own paled in comparison to the power this particular pilot kept hidden away, choosing to keep it inside as a secret and consuming aide if the need ever arose. No one alive had ever witnessed the massive force Heero held. Anyone who invoked the rage that awakened that power died with his or her mistake. Heero's fury destroyed everything it touched, leaving no witnesses or survivors.

This new power was different. He clenched his fist, watching as his muscles tightened, trying to feel out this new energy. It felt like he could summon it into his hand like a grenade or shape it into whatever he wished. He closed his eyes and visualized the strings of power collecting within him. They were long strings of pulsing black nothingness, twining and twisting around each other and gave the impression of waiting. For what, he did not know. Left alone, it felt as though the power swirled with a madness that promised havoc and chaos and giving him vague oaths of future power, mastery and control.

This power felt like it could rip him apart from the inside out, putting him back together piece by piece before doing the same thing all over again. As he visualized it, sound crackled and Heero's eyes snapped open.

Instead of being in the forest as he expected, there stood a figure before him while everything else was shrouded in blackness.

Heero snarled. This man or woman had no right to intrude on him. At least, that was what it felt like.

"Hmm, you seem to be growing much too fast for your own good, as well as for my own plans." The definite female voice walked towards him but stopped just out of reach. Heero got the impression of the woman smiling and tensed. "But, I can still turn this to my own gain."

Heero blinked and was returned to the forest. Before he had time to begin to wonder, a horrible wracking pain distorted all other senses and the pilot was forced to his knees, trying to resist the urge to vomit. His visualization of the power, straining against unseen enslavement filled his vision but this time they broke through the invisible walls and he could feel them as they spiraled through his body, taking control of him and slowly undoing him.

It felt as though he were set afire. And in a sense, he was.

The new power of destruction the young pilot held raced through him, burning away any resistance and giving any undesirable emotions to the devouring flames they lit. Heero saw black as the invisible flames washed him clean of whatever defiance he might have had.

It burned away his emotions-at least, the emotions humans used to identify with. Love, kindness, sympathy, pity, hope, all washed away with the licking flames. This power, born of its own will, would not let such petty feelings get in its way. 

Heero smiled. If it could be called that.

In the smile was the hunger that he was left with. The hunger for more. Without such feelings as love, only hate, loathing, and hunger survive. Hunger for power, a desire to spread hate and strife, a yearning to bring pain.

With an easy movement, Heero pushed some of the unruly brown hair from his eyes and glanced around his surroundings while half burned memories threw themselves at him in an attempt to reestablish the one who use to be.

They went away ignored as Heero glanced down the way his 'ally' Phillip had traveled to see his master. The smile widened, showing suddenly sharp teeth. A reckless attitude took over him and a sudden curiosity to discover exactly who this 'Mistress' was pressed him down the path. 

This mistress must have much power. Power to take. And his instincts as a pilot would not allow him to casually forget about someone who had expressed a desire to meet him. Perhaps such a meeting would be enlightening to both parties involved.

Heero walked away with a calm yet dominant stride and the same hungry smirk on his face only added to the brutal image he presented. Had his former friends but seen him, they would have known true fear.


	6. What's Beyond the Bend?

---------------------------

---------------------------

Disclaimer: Yea, I know everyone here knows I own nothing. Not even this computer much less a couple of extremely popular shows like Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon.

---------------------------

Puppet Master

Chapter 6 -- What's Beyond the Bend?

Heero walked down the path, searching for anything that would give him a hint as to what the person living here might be like but everything was deathly still. Not a sound echoed through the forest but that fact was not the least bit surprising to one of his kind. He smirked. One of my kind? There are none of my kind.

He kept walking forward, occasionally brushing a stray lock of dark hair from his face. A soft murmuring sound reached his ears and he stopped suddenly, looking for its source.

The forest had begun to thin out, leaving a clear path for him to follow. A green meadow showed between the thinning trees to be filled with dirty kids and exasperated adults but Heero paid it no attention. Children were one of the few things that he wouldn't dare try to handle and he wasn't about to make any attempt to get close to the bundles of mess. 

The power he had felt awaken within not too long ago seemed to buzz all around him. It was surprising that he could hold in the amount he currently did but that power kept growing and filling in any hole they found within his being. Memories once blurry were brought back to an all too clear picture. Even the torturous experiences beneath Dr. J's 'training' resurfaced after years of being kept away from mind.

Not that it bothered him now. Nothing could touch him.

There. Far ahead of him was a thick growth of willows, their green leaves hiding whatever lay behind them like a thick, impenetrable fog. The trees took up a fair portion of land and seemed to radiate with some sort of energy, even from the distance.

Dark sizzles of crackling energy visible only to those who had the power to see such things burned away any living creature daring to violate the boundary. Heero's eyes narrowed and he unconsciously began filing away any useful information about the place. The energy signal was too familiar to miss; it was the same person whose energy surrounded both Philip and himself when they first reached this place. Perhaps the person who'd brought him to this place in the first place. For a single person to show such an interest in him, a Gundam pilot, was dangerous. Especially so when Heero had been looking for something to do to keep his mind from wandering to the years he spent fighting for both the Colonies and Earth and the fact that both of those places now lacked any sign of gratitude or even acknowledgment for anything the pilots had done.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing!"

Heero turned sharply to address whoever it was shouting at him. A small girl, looking to be only about ten or so, was flying towards him at. Long strands of brown, knotty hair trailed behind her as she sprinted down the path behind him at full speed. She was wearing a large black shirt and a pair of yellow shorts that were obviously too big for her. A pair of torn up sandals were the only other thing on her, unless the layers of dirt and grim covering up her lean form counted. When she reached him, a disbelieving expression on face, she immediately grabbed his hand and tried to tug him away, casting fearful glances at the knot of trees behind her.

"Don't you know anything?" she demanded angrily. "Why are you going over there? That place is dangerous!"

An amused and bewildered expression tried to work its way onto Heero's face. A place being more dangerous then himself? He attempted to gentle pry the girl's small hand from his and began to think about what to do with this little one who seemed determined not to let him go. The image of the dirty kids playing in the grass came back to him. "Who are you?"

She smiled as though it was a silly question. "My name's Rachael. What's your name?"

"Heero." The answer was out before he could stop it. Heero glared at her as though it were her fault. "Why don't you ho back to your parents? They're probably looking for you." He turned and started for the trees. This is the person who brought me here. I will find out why and how they found out about me. And why I feel this strange new energy, power within that almost gathers at my fingertips when I call-

"No thanks. 'Sides, I don't really have parents. None of us orphans do."

Rachael had followed him and was already tugging at his hand again, latching her fingers within his and trying to pull him away from his destined path. "And I'm warning you, don't go in there!"

Feeling slightly aggravated, Heero tried unsuccessfully to take his hand away from her grip. He held back the urge to rip his hand away with a violent motion and tried once again to send her back. "I'm fine. Now go back to where you came from."

Her words began to sink in. an orphan. Duo was an orphan. Flash images of Duo came to mind: the first time they met to the day the two infiltrated the colony Marie-Maya had staged her base. Memories of the pilot's happy-go-lucky manner and his way of making those around him relax and laugh came back to Heero's mind but where abruptly brushed back as Heero ignored them.

Rachael glared at the pilot. "I already told you," she began in a slightly angered tone, "I don't have any parents. They're dead. And I'm not going back to that orphanage. They," her voice faltered, "hurt me. But I'm not going back-"

"What?" Heero ignored the voice in his head warning him to leave the matter alone. Who hurt this child? Who could do such a thing? Memories of his own 'childhood' flared to life but he shoved them away as quickly as those of Duo, albeit with slightly more pain. Why do I even care? "Who hurt you?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied quickly, betraying her sudden nervousness. "I probably deserved it anyway because I'm always getting in trouble and they already told me they do it for my own good-"

Heero grabbed her shoulders. "Who hits you?" he growled menacingly. A sudden sense of responsibly over this child blazed within. Why do I even care? Duo was an orphan where they probably hit the orphans- Heero's breath caught as he thought of that- and he still turned out to be a good person-though, his training as a pilot was probably the only reason Duo was not still an orphan on the colonies. I can't do anything about it anyway with all the things I must do on this planet. This child is not my responsibility. But he still couldn't shake the feeling of murder he felt as the thought of someone hurting this child in anyway came to mind. Another child from the past came to mind, this one he'd known only a day before she died and not much older then Rachael when she had walked by him that day. He could still remember the laughter in her voice as she walked her dog and asked him if he was lost. He had failed to protect her, being the cause of her death-one of the first innocent lost in the war he fought, killed by him like the thousands who landed in their graves after.

Rachael struggled in his tightening grip. "Let go," she screamed, "you're hurting me!"

Heero instantly released her, jumping back in surprise and silently cursing himself for forgetting where he was. Rachael rubbed her arms ruefully.

"Man, I try to warn you about that place," a finger pointed to the grove of trees, "and you try to squeeze me to death!"

"I'm…sorry," Heero muttered, confused. She obviously wasn't in extreme amounts of pain, something Heero was grateful for though he didn't know why, and her tone had been sarcastic but humorous. An unwanted smile appeared on his face as Rachael continued muttering under her breath and rubbing her arms while shooting Heero lethal glares.

"Yea, well it's too late for that, isn't it?"

Again, another bright smile appeared in his face. Rachael stopped a moment to stare at him and looked away with an even brighter blush spreading across her face. Heero glanced at the woods a moment longer and decided that they weren't extremely important. Besides, it would be better to face an enemy with knowledge of some sort, the knowledge this little one claimed able to provide. "Would you like something to eat?"

An amazed grin settled on Rachael's face. "Would I ever!"

She reached back and grabbed his hand, dragging him off once again but this time with little resistance. "Come on, I know this really great place to eat. It's over here."

Heero followed her with a soft smile on his face, content to just listening to her rambling about the great food this store had.

-----------------------------------

Whatever the mistress was planning, things were working out for her. Philip and Sydin bowed low before the cackling image of their self-proclaimed Queen of the Earth, faces wearing identical winces as each laugh sounded as glass shattering.

"Philip, you still have to watch over my new servant," the queen commanded suddenly, her figure going still as laughter passed into a severe and unbending will.

The queen still hid herself beneath her robes from even the two brothers, her closest and perhaps only allies. "Sydin, I need a constant watch over the Scouts, do nothing to reveal yourself for the moment but watch and report all that you see."

The two murmured "My Queen" and teleported out.

Dropping her guise once more, Serne quickly looked over the prison she now lived and, finding things in order, laid her psychic essence back down to her true body frozen miles beneath the little lake. She needed to come up with enough energy to beat her new 'ally' into submission and from her close scouting, the battle was not going to be as easy as planned.

A wicked smile froze upon her face and she pictured her father, the one who she'd discovered had been behind her entrapment millennia ago and whose ingenious idea was to lock her daughter's still living body beneath the frozen waters. What would he say if he still lived to see her once more conspiring to destroy the Great Houses of the Kingdom? It was the reason for her captivity but those who captured her believed her weak and trapped without a physical form.

Her other form, her 'psychic essence,' as it was called, lay on a level none knew her to have.

Serne bared her sharp teeth just before lying back into her nearly dead body. "Father, I swore to get my revenge. Now you're dead and nothing will stop me!"

All she needed to be free was a single servant strong enough to break through the prison. And Heero was that servant.

The smile stayed frozen on her face.

Heero was the once, whether he knew it or not.

-----------------------------------

Duo leaned against the brick wall, grateful for the support it gave. The towering city of Tokyo loomed far overhead in the sky; black buildings streaking up against the setting sun as though their intention was to impale it on their spiked roofs.

Duo turned and shrugged to the three pilots behind him before moving out into the main street. From the alleyway came Wufei, Trowa and Quatra, all with intent looks on their faces. "Chill out guys," Duo laughed, "it's not like there's anyone here who'd even know us."

"Shut up Maxwell," Wufei hissed. "You forget that Heero happens to be here."

Duo shrugged, giving the scenery a searching look. "Fine, but I really don't see Heero shopping around in a mall."

The main road led straight to a mall. Well, Duo argued, it was more like a min-mall, a collection of stores nearby each other then the malls of America. Most of the buildings shined with happy cartoon characters and from his lessons with Heero between the Eve Wars and the Marie-Maya War, his Japanese could translate everything.

"Hey guys, guess what? I can speak Japanese!"

Wufei gave him a disgusted look while Quatra cleared his throat. "Duo, I think we all can speak Japanese. I don't know why but it's like everything's in English."

Trowa nodded.

"Sure. So now we are some sort of multi-tongued ones who understand every language in the book?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, baka," Wufei muttered beneath his breath. "That woman must have done something to us. What good would it do if none of us spoke the same language? That's the reason behind my leanings of the English language during my pilot training."

"O…k. Well, let's beat this joint. No matter what you say, Heero won't be hanging around a mall all day when Trista says he's about to take over the world."

"Yes, but remember what Trista said. She'll be here as ell and we should keep a look out for her." Quatra's Arabic accent attracted the attention of a group of girls who instantly began talking about the four pilots behind raised hands.

Wufei sighed, glaring at the giggling group of females. The girls only goggled at him, the more outgoing ones sighing in admiration and giggling all the louder.

"Wufei, stop it! You're attracting too much attention." Quatra's stern voice whispered and the three began walking away from the site.

"Hey, wait! Guys, were are you going?" Duo glanced at the adoring public gathering before him and then at the backs of his moving friends. "Man, can't we ever have a little fun?" he whined before jogging to catch up. "I mean, sure we got to do our mission but can't we take a break first and just relax?"

As he continued whining, duo ran straight into someone, bounced off the person and landed on his back. "HEY!"

Duo's outcry brought the attention of nearly everyone on the road excepting the girls who were already staring at him. The other pilots were at his side in an instant and as he stood, Duo glanced at the person he'd knocked over. She was rubbing her forehead and flinched slightly with pain. Her aquamarine hair covered most of her pale face and Duo helped her up. "Sorry 'bout that-"

Michelle, are you all right?"

Two people walked up to the fallen woman and the taller one, a woman with short, sandy hair brushed Duo's outstretched hand away. She helped her friend up before turning t to glare at the teenage boys. "You better watch where you're going," she growled.

"Amara, it was my fault," Michelle protested. "I wasn't looking where I was going. And besides, this young man was already offering an apology." She smiled tightly at the pilots. "Please forgive me, I was in a bit of a…rush." Her mouth hanged open in outright surprise.

Amara ignored her partner's state to glare at Duo. "Trista, we don't have time for this-"

"Trista!" Quatra's voice broke in."

From behind Amara, Trista walked up and glanced at the pilots with a confused expression. Amara also watched them in surprise. "Do we…know you?" she asked uncertainly.

"It's _them_!" Michelle hissed into her companions' ears but the pilots managed to hear. "Those pilots. Remember?"

Shocked expressions wiped the women's' faces of all other emotion. Amara's mouth moved without sound and Trista looked like she wanted to reach for something that wasn't there.

Duo watched a moment before something clicked. He smiled at Trista and casually asked "How's you're staff? Heero didn't break it yet, did he?"

Hotaru choose that moment to make herself known. "Me and Rini were wondering what…took you so long. Who are you?"

Duo wasted no time to make himself known. With a flashy bow and a tip of his imaginary hat, Duo smiled widely at the shocked teen girl and announced in extravagant tones "I'm Duo Maxwell, at your service straight from America-well, my America anyway. This is Chang Wufei," Wufei was watching the three women's' faces with interest mixed with confusion, "Quatra Winner," the blond Arabian nodded and asked "How do you do?" "And this is Trowa Barton." Trowa glanced at Hotaru but his attention went back to the three older women.

"Trowa, does this Trista look like the one before?" Wufei finally spoke.

"B-before?" Trista stuttered.

Trowa shrugged. "It seems like she either doesn't remember us or has never seen us before. If I had to choose which it was, I'd say it was the second."

"Yes, but she did say she was from the future. Perhaps her past, I mean, present self has no knowledge of what will be done in the future."

"What do you know about this?" Amara demanded of Quatra.

"That seems like the most likely explanation but whatever it is, I'd rather spend my time looking for Heero. Wouldn't want him to get a head start on us, know would we?" Duo stated loudly.

"H-Heero? You've come to fight him?" Hotaru asked, her eyes bulging.

The four pilots looked at her in shock. "I thought only Trista knew of this?" Wufei whispered to the other pilots. Trowa nodded his surprise.

"Hey, do you know of my old buddy Heero?" Duo asked the wide-eyed teen.

"…I got to go!" Hotaru raced away, shaking the other three from their shock.

"Hotaru! Hotaru!" Amara and Michelle ran after her fleeing back.

Trista watched the four pilots. "We…may have been wrong in our initial judgment," she muttered. Aloud to the pilots, Trista added "Perhaps you should come with us and explain what this other Trista told you. Maybe then we'll be able to solve what's going on."

Maybe then I can find out why my future sense and time-traveling skills are blocked out as well, Trista thought to herself as the five of them walked onward to the Outers' car.

Wufei snorted. Weak and confused women were the last thing he needed to deal with on this New World.

Was this even a new place? Of course it was. For one thing, this city was far too underdeveloped to even try and compare with the glorious world of modern-day Tokyo from his world. And the colonies, which should be visible to the naked eye nearly, all the time were missing from their place in the sky. He hadn't heard one whispered conversation about Mobile Dolls or the Gundams in all his time here. In fact, these people seemed to talk more about the latest comics or movies then anything else. Wufei grimaced. If these were the conditions he had to work under, he'd do it. But the longing he felt for Nataku and Shenlong were magnified in this place. The other pilots probably missed their own Gundams as well. What would Heero feel, with his Gundam still around and had undoubtedly been repaired from the damage it took during the wars?

Wufei narrowed his eyes at the thought. Why had no one seen this coming? Certainly nothing about this other world could have been predicted but Heero's state should have been at least thought about. The fact that the tons of gundaniam alloy that slipped by into Earth unnoticed until only days before disgraced Wufei. As a Preventer, he should have noticed or at least run into one or two of the shipments.

As a Preventer.

Heero had been a Preventer. He would have know all the docking points unchecked by the Preventers, the times when Earth was unguarded by them and used that knowledge to his advantage.

No! Wufei clenched his hands into fists. I will not allow myself to blame Heero for my misjudgments and weakness. The Japanese boy had though himself better then anyone and Wufei was determined to prove him wrong. Just because he'd escaped before meant nothing should the two encounter again. This time, Heero would be caught and, Wufei though with a tight grin, I'll be the one to capture him.

Trista, oblivious to the pilot's anger, glanced at her watch. "We must hurry or we'll be missed," she muttered, looking up and down the street for a sign of her friends.

I didn't want to do this. Trista checked to make sure Rini was all right- the girl was asleep- and took out a small watch.

"Uranus, are you there," Trista whispered. The Gundam pilots' ears perked up. She was talking into a watch?

Static and then "Yes. Michelle's on her way back. Hotaru's disappeared."

The pilots' eyes widened but they held their peace.

Trista sighed. "We must go without her. The Scouts need our help."

Michelle appeared before them, casting each pilot a cautious eye before settling in the front beside Trista. "Let's go. Amara has her bike."

"A bike? You guys still use those things?" Duo broke in unceremoniously.

Michelle glared at Duo but a motorcycle rushed by them. "There she is."

Trista nodded and started the car.

Duo watched the 'bike' race down the road with a trail of smoke behind it. "Nice bike."

-----------------------------------

They had decided to try meeting at Ray's temple yet again. Late as usual, Serena ignored the usual jeers and angry comments from Ray. Surprisingly, Luna scolded the fiery priestess. Serena barely noticed the change in the cat's attitude, mind still dazed over from her dream-all day, it was as though she did nothing but dwell on the dream. Her teacher had asked if she was all right before sending her home after getting on reaction from the girl. Molly had tried to hand out with Serena but when all Serena did was stare ahead, the brown haired girl backed off.

Serena sat down before the small table in Ray's room, absently petting Luna who'd lie down in her lap.

The other Scouts watched with growing unease and tried to cover up their raw nerves by chatting loudly. Still Serena ignored the tension, starting on her schoolwork in robot mode.

Mina smiled at her friend in another attempt to include Serena in their conversations. "Hey, What's wrong? You're so quiet!"

Serena gave a start and forced a smile. "I'm just thinking."

"Humph. I didn't know you could think with that meatball head of yours, Serena. Do you even know how to?"

Serena suddenly snapped, slamming her books closed and stuffing them into her bag. She glared at her once friend and stated in icy tones, "Yes, Ray. I do know how to think. If you'd asked me before, you'd have found out that I think this whole meeting was a really bad idea. I have to go. If there's anything that has to do with the Scouts, I'll be at home. Otherwise, leave me alone."

Serena picked up her bags and walked out.

"Jeez," Lita muttered after a minute of silence.

"I now," Mina echoed. The blonde glanced at Ray. "You should apologize Ray. That went too far."

Amy shut her laptop. "I don't think this is about Ray. The two have said much more hurtful words before and remained friends. Besides, did Darien call anyone other then me last night? Asking about Serena?"

The other four nodded their heads glumly.

Amy nodded. "This is probably about a fight they had. We really can't do anything bout it. I feel really bad about letting her go out by herself but there's nothing we can do to help her."

Ray just stared at the door.

Luna glanced at Artemis in disgust- her fellow cat was busy sleeping in the sun- and quietly followed after her princess.

-----------------------------------

Sydin rubbed his hands in glee. The Sailor Scouts breaking up over this weak link, Tuxedo Mask? This was too good. If this fight kept up, there'd be no one strong enough to defy his Queen when her days as ruler over this world came. The Great Houses would be done for and Earth would rule as the strongest force under Queen Serne.

It was too much. Sydin could just imagine the day. The dark elves kept hidden away and locked in darkness by the Imperial Crystal's pure goodness would be freed and he would no longer be forced to work as the last of his kind.

Philip watched with slightly less enthusiasm. His adopted brother was getting too excited over a future that may not happen. Philip, one of the few who escaped the massacre of his family's line, was the only survivor of Earth's past time of glory. Unlike the Moon Kingdom where the people were content to have a single bloodline rule, dozens of Houses fought for Earth's Throne. His House, the family line of Panacea Cimmerian, had been nearly decimated when determined as a threat to the current King of the Earth, King Salem. King Salem's son, Prince Darien, was killed years afterwards with nearly all of the people of both the Moon and Earth, leaving Philip as the rightful King of Earth.

It was a title he had refused. Philip hadn't survived the millennia since the passing of the Moon's Queen Serenity by being rash. He'd witnessed the rebirth of many from the Moon's and Earth's Courts and had seen dozens of evils like the one he served fall before them.

Since he was of the Royal Court, Philip had been granted the life to live forever unless he was killed in battle or by some other form. He was physically immune to plagues and old age. His time had been spent trying to recover the banner of old but nothing came of his efforts. When Philip had first met Sydin, a member of the Dark Elf race banished millennia ago, it was to him a sign to join the other side.

The two 'adopted' brothers had found Serne and had served her and no other.

"Philip, the day will come when these mortals will feel the sharp edge of my scimitar or the piercing of you blade. Then they shall know the wraith they've inflicted upon the elves."

Philip ignored his brother's rants. "I must go. The new one must be watched."

Sydin made an empty gesture of farewell, too busy watching his enemies.

"Goodbye, brother."

-----------------------------------

Serena folded her arms, suddenly wishing she had remembered to bring a jacket. Dark gray clouds floated ominously across the sky but held back from actually raining. It wasn't truly that cold but her bare arms made her feel the slightest bit venerable. It didn't help when it felt like she was being watched-

"Stop that," Serena chided to herself. "You just need to walk around."

As though those were the magic word, the storm clouds let loose, unleashing its winds with a fury. Rain began to beat down on her and sent cold chills down her spine. Serena shivered and ran to the nearest store. The daze she'd been in all day disappeared with her fight with Ray. Serena didn't know whether to be grateful or guilt ridden.

Serena shivered again and walked into the store. Across the street, the orphans weekly field trip to the park broke up into screams of laughter as the orphans ran around and rolled in the mud-much to the anger of their guardians. Serena hid a small smile as one of the adults took after a tall kid and ended up slipping in the mud. The other children were herded into waiting buses and Serena turned into the store.

To her luck, it was the candy and ice cream store. 30 flavors of different ice cream and loads of mouth-watering sweets lined the walls and refrigerated counters. Serena stared at it all. Even if she'd become a mature teen, the tempting sweets still got the same reaction from her every time. Serena grabbed a bag and began filling it with her favorites, not even noticing that the door chime had went off, announcing customers.

"You must really be hungry to eat that much," a young voice said behind her. "Or else you're having a party. What do you think, Heero?"

-----------------------------------

Philip ignored the rain and stared in shock through the glass window. It couldn't be.

But it was.

Inside the store, the Moon Princess stood with a bag overflowing with candy and was frozen in the act of stashing more into it.

Beside her stood…Heero.

Philip shook his head. For the two to meet this early, it was mind-boggling. And who was the little girl beside him? Philip was certain that Heero had a dislike or even fear to some extent of children yet here he stood in a store, ready to by an orphan some sweets. It didn't make sense.

Serne will want to know what's going one.

-----------------------------------

Serena turned to see a young brown haired girl standing beside a tall teenage boy with unruly dark hair. The girl was dressed in what looked like rags and throwaway clothing while the guy…Serena gulped. He was dressed in a deliciously dangerous black trench coat. Black pants and slips of a black muscle shirt, he looked every bit a dangerous street fighter with the scars on his face and the glint in those endless pools of Prussian eyes. It didn't help that rain streaked down his body, giving a melted and stunning style to his hair.

"Are you going to eat all that?"

Ser4ena stared at the guy in front of her, not even hearing the girl's question. He smirked, turning to his charge. "Choose what you want, my treat." Serena almost melted at the sound of his soft, commanding voice but settled for blushing deeply instead.

The little girl shrugged impatiently before running up to the counter and giving out sighs of joy as her bright eyes glowed in anticipation. "Oh, I told you this place was awesome! I want this - no, this one! -Wait, this one looks better!"

Serena looked down to see that her bag was already filled with candy, some of it even spilling onto the floor. Flushing with embarrassment, she picked up the fallen pieces and laughed. "Um yea, I'm going to a party. I wouldn't actually eat all this by myself!"

The two ignored her. The girl was too intent on choosing something to eat the guy, Heero, was watching both girls out of the corner of his eyes.

Serena sneaked to the corner of the store and watched them for a minute.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Jumping in surprise, Serena flushed bright red as the store's owner watched her, perplexed. "Y-yes. Um, can I get this?"

The man let out a deep rumbling laughter. "I wouldn't know. Can you pay for it? If you can, sure, but if you can't, I'm afraid not."

"What? Why would I go and get stuff I can't buy?" Serena's voice screeched. "Are you calling me poor?"

Eyes twinkling, the man smiled and laughed again. "No, ma'am. 'Course not. Are you ready to buy?"

She pulled out a purse and, grumbling, paid for the candy.

"Thank you, come again!"

"Like I will!"

As the door slammed, the owner smiled. Another customer hooked.

Heero watched the exchange with little interest, that strange sense of responsibility for Rachael beginning to wear off. Why had he felt so possessive over her? And why did he still want to hurt anyone who hurt her?

The other girl, the one with the long golden hair who'd just left, had also struck some feeling in him. Eyes darkening, he watched patiently as Rachael continued trying to make up her mind over what to get. Whoever that girl was, he'd find out as soon as he dealt with this mysterious 'Mistress' of the forest.

"Heero! Heero! Can I get this one?"

Rachael held in her hands a huge chocolate rose. It was painted in dark splashed of red and green-almost black-food dye. Nearly as big as her arm, Rachael was watching Heero with pleading eyes.

Nodding once, Heero moved to the register and began to pull out some money.

The door chimed once more and a deep voice announced "I'll pay for that, Heero."

Philip removed some money and paid for the rose, checking the child out in case Heero had found some sort of energy that attracted him to her.

Heero watched Philip and whispered something into the girl's ear. She giggled but nodded and had left the store before Philip could say a word.

The owner solemnly accepted the money and gave Philip back the change without a word. The blond waved away the money. "Keep it. Come on Heero, we've got stuff to do.

Heero followed with a smirk that chilled the owner and the door slammed behind the two.

Rain beating against the window, the owner allowed himself to shiver. He glanced at the clock. "Nearly eight. Better start closing."

Outside, the soft buzzing of street lights and rushing sounds of cars driving by blended in with the occasional deep rumbling thunder. The twinkling stars were lost behind flashes of lightening and the rain continued falling from the heavenly clouds down to an earth were their sacrifice would be regarded as nothing short of an annoyance.

-----------------------------------

Author's Notes:

Soooo soooorrrryyyy

I meant to get this chapter out _much_ sooner but things kept getting in the way. I promise that the next chapter will be out within the week-maybe even today. Thanks for all the reviews. I honestly thought that with all the delays, I should just drop this story. Danke shon.

------Black Rebel.

"For every secret left unveiled, for every power learned, I'd sell the remnants of my soul, regardless how it burned. Though I found it, it would leave me - broken, damned and drained."-C. Vincent Metzen 


	7. Serne's Genus

---------------------------

---------------------------

Puppet Master

Chapter 7 -- Serne's Genus

---------------------------

"Where's the princess?"

"I've already told you, she left! And stop calling her the princess! Her name's Serena!"

"Where'd she go!"

"Listen, if we knew that, we wouldn't be here!"

"Amara, Ray calm down!"

Ray stood glaring at the tall blonde warrior before her, doing her best to keep her temper from taking over her. Amara scrowled and clenched her fist with anger and frustration.

Between them, Lita and Amy were doing their best to prevent a fight while Mina, Trista and Michelle watched in annoyed silence.

"You guys, we won't find Serena like this. We should have gone after her as soon as her mother called."

"Yea, but you didn't. Now look where we are. A new threat is about to make itself known and the princess, the one in the most danger, is lost! I knew we shouldn't have left, that you couldn't protect her-"

"What do you mean, huh? You barely even know Serena. She's strong enough to take care of herself and you dare complain about our skills when you can't even take care of Hotaru!" Amara bristled at the comment. "And even if Serena was hurt, why would you care? All you do is come and go, not even caring how much it hurts Serena to see her friends abandon her like some burden."

"Don't you tell me I don't care about my princess." Amara's voice lowered to a threatening growl. Her narrowed eyes watched the fiery priestess in near hatred. "Don't you dare tell me that I don't know how she feels, that I don't hurt when she hurts. I bleed with her, every wound she hides, I carry with pride. Do you know the dozens of pains she suffers every day?" Amara questioned.

Ray opened her mouth to speak but Amara kept talking.

"I know her better then even you who claim to be her best friends. I know how she feels when we are forced to leave her with cruel people like you but we both know there's nothing to be done about it. Do you think I enjoy leaving my princess?" Her breath came in ragged intakes, fist going white with fury.

Her voice changed to outright assessment. "And I know, Princess of Mars, about all the times you've sent her to tears. You believe her to be so strong but even the brightest star in the sky has a breaking point and you've forced Serena to hers dozens of times. Do you think her laughter is pure laughter or do you know the pain she's hidden beneath her goofy manner? All the times you've teased her innocent soul, I've been bearing the pain she felt. I know how torn her heart is, how you seem to take pleasure from ripping it asunder. I feel every hurt she has taken from countless enemies, hurts I wish I could remove from her memory, and the hurts you give her without a second thought are almost more then I can stand. Even now, she bleeds for you. For all of you, she would bleed until her royal blood ran dry and then she'd try to bleed some more. If she were to risk her life for you, as she has done so often, it wouldn't even be an issue to her."

"I will never understand how she can give so much with nothing in return nor will I understand why she would torture herself by coming here to see you when Serena could have so much better."

Everyone stared at Amara in shock as the warrior slowly stood, swaying with blind fury, and made her way to the car outside.

She turned once at the door, eyes seeking Ray's and uttered, "Though I will never understand why she allows you to tease and distress her, I promise you that should you do so while I'm around to protect her, priestess, you will feel my wraith until you rue the day you King and Queen sent you to the Kingdom." Amara shook her head. "I _bleed_ for her, priestess. Were she to die today, I would give my life so that she may breathe without giving a second thought to the matter. Can you say the same?"

Trista finally spoke as the door slammed shut behind Amara. "We have no time for this," she murmured to Michelle then turned to join the tall warrior known as Sailor Uranus.

Michelle turned to see the pale faces of the Inners. "Rini is with us at the moment. Hotaru is nearby, of that we are sure. She will be found and afterward be kept safe with us as she has been for the past few years." Her eyes emphasized that point to Ray who hung her head in shame. "Don't worry about them. We'll also take care of Serena. You don't need to worry about anything. As for Darien…we will find the princess but the prince does not want us to be here."

"Once we find her, we'll tell her of this new enemy and perhaps she'll tell you. Amara will never say a word about it to you and both Trista and I will respect her silence."

Michelle turned to follow her companions but was stopped but a shaky hand. 

"Michelle, wait." Ray's pale and drawn face was scrunched in pain. "D-did Amara mean what she said…"

Michelle scrowled. "Amara meant every word. We live our lives thanks to and for the princess. We would die for her without a second thought. Her pain is our own; the suffering she goes through is the suffering we take up. Where she walks we follow. She is our hope, love and life and we do everything in our power to allow her the life she deserves. Were anything to happen to her…" Michelle closed her eyes. "I don't know what we'd do. But if the princess is hurt, you'll be the ones we punish."

Aquamarine hair spun as Michelle walked out the door.

---------------------------

"Man, come one. Why are we even here?" Duo drawled, voicing the other pilots' thoughts. "All we're doing is sitting here and hoping Heero doesn't do anything stupid while the only connection we have to anything is in that temple arguing with a bunch of-"

"Women." Wufei finished with a snort. "Weak women."

"Ok, those may not have been my exact words, but...yea. We're waiting while-"

"Have any of you noticed that Trista doesn't seem to have really expected us, or that her two friends-three, if you count the one that ran away awhile ago- mistrust us," Quatra broke in softly. He was staring ahead at nothing, eyes looking past everything at the distant stars. When no one answered. Quatra looked back. "Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting Duo."

Duo smiled. "No problem."

"Where did Trowa go?" Wufei questioned suddenly.

Duo and Quatra shrugged helplessly. "Probably to find out what's taking so long."

---------------------------

Amara stepped outside, her fury dying down to a boiling worry. Those…brats had left the princess unguarded. Unguarded and emotionally tormented. Serena had given off an altogether uneasy feeling all day, one so strong that even Hotaru had felt it, untrained as she was.

A moment later, Trista also emerged but she appeared as reserved and untouched as always. Apparently, their little argument and consequently the words Amara released without thought caused the Guardian of Time no moment of unease. Amara envied that kind of quiet dignity, but then again, Amara knew she couldn't bear to live a life devoid of any emotion. The Guardian lived forever, in a world apart from those any she might called friends. Those precious few close enough to gain her trust would live their lives and age while she remained timeless, untouched by the world and for the most part, it lay untouched by her.

Amara hung her head. "I let my temper get the better of me. I should not have revealed the link we have with our princess during a time like this."

"Your anger and distress caused your reason to flee," Trista replied quietly.

"My anger and distress should never have gotten so out of control that logic deserts me. Such action doesn't fit a guard of the Moon Princess," Amara argued venomously.

Trista shrugged. "Anyone can forget their judgment during a time of unease and anger."

"I can't afford to act live any!" Amara muttered with resignation. "Should I continue acting as such, I will endanger the lives of those I am assigned to protect."

Michelle walked out with an air of calm self-restraint but both Trista and Amara could feel the anger radiating from their friend. "I do not think they'll let us stay. At least not willingly."

Trista nodded. "I didn't think they'd do anything less."

Amara curled her hand into a fist. "They want to punish us in anyway they can for showing them the truth."

"Truth is in the eye of those who witness such a thing. In the circus, a slight of the hand trick will be seen as a truth until exposed as otherwise. Those who have seen the same trick will beware any who claim to do the same, going as far as to mistrusting others who would speak truth," a voice extruded from the dark of night.

"What! Who's there?" Amara demanded.

From the shadows, Trowa walked out with his hands held before him. "I apologize if you didn't wish for me to intrude on your conversation. I am also sincerely sorry that you believe me and my friends enemies though we have come to help.

"Then why did you spy on us?" Michelle asked with true sincerity. Amara glanced at her but Michelle only shook her head for an explanation.

Trowa shrugged. "It would have done you no harm if I knew what was going on. Though I must admit, half of your conversation made no sense to me and will make even less sense to my companions. If you were to explain it to us?"

Amara shook her head. "It doesn't concern you." Michelle gave her friend a glare. "Only if you exchange information with us."

"That seems fair," Trowa remarked. He glanced at the door. "I think that your friends are coming out to see what is going on. It would be best if we were to leave. I don't think you'd be able to fully explain my presence here."

Trista nodded thoughtfully and the four left quickly.

---------------------------

"Are they still there?"

Mina shook her head. "No, but there was a guy with them. They were talking and left before I could tell what's going on."

"Hey," Artemis interrupted, "did any of you see when Luna left?"

"Great," Lita replied. "There goes another member of the team. First Serena, now Luna. Anyone want to volunteer to disappear without a word next?"

"Sarcasm will not help," Amy's clear voice cut in. "Most of the words exchanged in that fight were said from anger but I was able to pick up some new information. Did any of you know that Serena shared some sort of link with the Outers?"

"Amara was telling the truth? I thought she was exaggerating."

"Well, yes and no," Amy answered Mina. "When she first mentioned it, I also thought it was nothing but an overstatement but then I remembered how Serena never seemed to worry about them, like she knew they were still alive or something. From my readings, there's some sort of secret psychic link between them, stronger then one would believe but somehow it was kept hidden from any previous readings of mine."

"So she really does suffer with Serena," Ray whispered listlessly.

"However," Amy continued, "when she said she actually bleed when Serena did, it was probably just an exaggeration. You can't physically bleed from a psychic link-"

Ray's eyes hardened.

"-But you will experience the same as the other person, just without the physical markings."

Ray closed her eyes. "I was so wrong," she whispered.

"What do you mean, Ray?" Lita asked.

"I use to think that I was being so mean to Serena to get her to grow up. Then, when we found out that she was our princess, I blamed it on the fact that she needed to become stronger to be a good queen and that my cruelties was just helping her get stronger. But now, I realize that I was being mean just because I didn't want to accept Serena and how innocent she was. I mean, how can someone be that nice to everyone? I use to think she was keeping up some sort of act to make fun of the way the rest of us can't be that clean."

"Ray, we all felt that way," Mina whispered softly. Lita nodded her head solemnly and Amy closed her eyes with remorse.

Ray shook her head violently. "But I was the only one who took it out on her!"

Lita leaned her head into her arms. "Ray, you may have done it but we only encouraged you. If we wanted, we would have stopped you or pointed out how much it hurt Serena but all we did was laugh and enjoy it. If anything, we all share the blame."

Mina grabbed Artemis to her chest and slowly began to rock on her heels, staring out as the moon began to rise.

---------------------------

Rini was laughing as Duo whispered another joke into her ear. Her outrageous pink hair was messed up, halfway undone as evidence of her slumber. As Amara, Michelle, Trista and Trowa walked towards the car, Duo leaned in to whisper one last joke and tickle the girl again.

She was exploding with laughter, enough to make Amara and Michelle glance at her in concern, as the doors were opened to let everyone back in. "Are you ok, Small Lady?" Trista asked hesitantly.

Rini only laughed harder. Duo looked at the older women apologetically. "Sorry, but with her hair being so pink, I had to make her face the same color. You know," he glanced at the suddenly indignant child, "so that everything evens out."

"Duo!" Rini screeched before falling back into helpless fits of laughter.

Trista allowed herself a small smile before settling back into the car. Amara shrugged and walked back to her dark purple motorcycle parked just ahead of their car. Michelle smiled as well and took up her ordained position as driver.

"Where to?" she asked Trista.

"The apartment."

"Apartments?" Duo whined. "You guts live in an apartment? Man."

Michelle gave him a tight smile. "Don't be so quick to judge. You'll be surprised as to how large a single apartment can be."

"Besides," Wufei added, "you're judgment over their 'bike' wasn't as accurate as a Pilot's should be."

Duo scrowled while the other pilots smirked or laughed.

Trista and Michelle looked at each other and shrugged. Must be an inside joke.

---------------------------

"So, how have you been?"

"Hn."

"Really, that's interesting," Philip remarked sarcastically. He glanced sideways at his stoic companion. "Aren't you even going to thank me for paying your bill?"

"Thanks."

"Right." Philip sighed. "Look, can't you just relax for once? I'm not going to use any information you give me against you."

Heero's face hardened.

Great, Philip. Go off and warn him about some danger he probably hasn't even thought about that won't even happen. Clearing his throat, Philip asked cautiously "So who was that girl you were with?"

Nothing.

"Ok, fine Heero! I'm just trying to be your friend! It's not like you have too many now do you. Jeez!" Philip threw his hands into the air and began to stalk off. They entered an empty meadow, the grass sloshing beneath his feet with the freshly fallen rain. The rain had dried itself out about a half-hour ago but the dark clouds still hid most stars from the sky. The moon glimpsed out behind some clouds, giving the area an eerie feeling.

"What did you want?"

Philip turned and glared at Heero. "Nothing, ok. Maybe I just wanted to make sure you were all right and maybe I was just wondering if you'd care to tell me more of this world you came from. But since you obviously know some secret I'm in on without knowing it and since you obviously know I'm some sort of threat to you and your…your whatever, I'll just leave you here to figure out what else I'm trying to kill you with!"

Heero glared at Philip and swiftly walked past him. "If that was all you wanted, you wouldn't have been stalking me for the past few hours."

Philip's mouth hung open. "Wh-How did you know?"

Heero stopped to glare at him. "If you knew of my upbringing, that question wouldn't have to be asked."

"But that's exactly what I'm talking about," Philip injected. "I'm like you're only ally here and you're blocking me out! You expect me to know things about you that you've probably never told anyone. I mean-"

Heero's dark eyes suddenly blocked out Philip's view of everything. A single move and Philip was knocked backward dozens of feet. Landing on his back, Philip lied there a moment, dazed and breathless, before leaping up with a roar.

His eyes dashed across the empty meadow, looking for the location of his offender. It was empty of all life. Where'd he go-?

"When I was a child," a dangerous voice whispered into his ears, "I could do this without making a sound." A hand was suddenly wrapped around Philip's throat, blocking off his air.

Philip's hands flung out in an attempt to free himself from Heero's death grip.

"I was only five at the time," Heero continued on the same deathly tone, "but not even a grown man could free himself." Philip's hands were suddenly gripped by Heero's other hand and held in a tight hold behind his back.

"One slight push," Heero teased, "and your arm will be broken in a dozen places." A finger was pressed against Philip's neck. "Any more pressure, and your spine will be shattered."

Philip's eyes became glazed over as his air supply ran out. His struggling slowed down until Philip was a limp as a rag. Over a thousand years of living to be killed with ease by only a kid. It was madness. Consciousness dripped away and black spots appeared.

At the last possible moment, Philip was released.

He fell to the ground, gasping from breath. For a dozen minutes, all he could do was breath. His watered eyes stung and his muscles creaked in protest.

"W-why?" he asked weakly.

Heero glared at him. "Next time you wish to know more about me, remember that I don't give out knowledge for free."

Philip moaned once more before blacking out.

---------------------------

Darien watched as the moon began to set in the sky, sun already hiding the soft moonlight with its harsh, glaring light. Another day and still no word from Serena. He had been slightly concerned, more relived then anything, when Serena hadn't made her daily phone call filled with the latest gossip and useless information. But now three days had gone by and his concern had transformed into fear. His phone calls had gone unanswered and even the Scouts had no idea where the golden haired one had gone.

Darien frowned. The Outers were behind this. He knew it

Outside, something shined and as he turned to see what it was, some instinct forced him to the floor. His head hit the ground just as an arrow whizzed by. Glass shattered and spilled across the floor like crystal water.

An arrow? Not an energy blast or psychic attack but a physical, weak and easily avoided attack. Darien took out his transforming rose but stopped when he saw that no one was there. The pieces of glass from his shattered window lay twinkling on the floor and seemed to wink at him in some silent joke but the arrow was still there.

Darien tenderly lifted the arrow from the floor and checked it over, trying to make sense of the matter.

A piece of rice paper was fastened upon the arrow's point, tied to the metal with a feathery piece of lace. A familiar aroma filled the room as Darien tore off the paper and began to read.

Before a word could register, he was swept away in a vision.

---------------------------

He stood before a great palace made of white ivory and marble. Laughter and ballroom music drifted from behind the towering pillars and flowers bloomed all around. The night sky was sprinkled with dotting stars and the moon could be seen, a glowing guardian from up high.

Prince Darien sighed at the sight of it. The moon, yet another goal beyond his reach. And on that moon lived the mystical Lunarians. The princess of these people was the only one who captured his attention though.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest, the twelve-year old Prince of the Earth walked swiftly into the palace. Entering through huge, white doors decorated with roses, both white and red, he ignored the inviting ballroom opening up before him and marched up the left stairway. There was yet another ball being thrown in his father's honor, though it was only an act staged to gain him support and to show off his guards. The best in the world, or so they had to be to prevent another House from overthrowing their own rule.

At the stairs end, the Prince wasted no time in hurrying to his own room. To be caught now would ruin everything. To give in and confront the person he knew to be following him would only waste weeks of plans and cause the King's wraith to fall upon his shoulders.

His room was one of the largest in the palace- only to be expected of the destined heir of the Earth.

If something didn't happen first.

Prince Darien pushed that though away. It would only open a way for doubt, and ultimately, defeat.

A single, enormous bed draped with fine white linens and soft, inviting velvet blue blankets. Mirrors covered the walls instead of paintings of his ancestors' triumphs (and defeats, Darien thought cynically), something highly unusual for a Prince. Furniture stood around the room, placed for his convenience.

White, hardwood floor protected by golden carpets and blood red rugs gave the room an unnaturally clean feel. Lighted chandeliers showed the room with bright light and warmth and the familiar aroma of freshly cut roses filled the room with a touch of spring.

Prince Darien ignored all the fine beauties and, opening the huge glass doors, walked out into the hanging balcony designed to his own specifications. Roses and other blooming buds hanged or were placed upon the balcony where other foliage grew of their own whim.

Darien leaned against the balcony, staring up at the sky in full wonder. The moon had always been his dream. The rumors of the beautiful and peaceful Moon Kingdom reached his ears and set his heart the goal of living there one day.

Then, as though they knew of his wish and wanted nothing more then to torture him with the unobtainable desire, both the Queen and the Princess of the Moon Kingdom had visited his palace only a week ago. The princess had hardly said a word the entire visit, staying beside her mother and behind her personal guards with her beautiful blue eyes wife with innocence. She's seemed amazed with the plant life and animals, going as far as to try and touch one of the royal birds before she'd seen Darien watching her with curious eyes.

The amazing part about it was that the bird, one of the fiercest hawks that skimmed the skies, had allowed her to reach for her and would have probably allowed her to touch it without raising a sound had she not seen him and removed her hand.

Such things were not usual of a princess, though Darien was hardly one to speak.

But the night before the Royal Family had left, the princess had received permission and took the opportunity to wander freely through the flower gardens with none except her trailing black cat.

Giggling with excitement, the princess had run down the isles, stopping occasionally to smell a bloom with an expression of complete bliss before taking off again. Her white dress wavered behind her, shimmering in the night like a heavenly beacon and her long golden hair trailed after.

Darien himself had gone into the garden in hopes of ridding himself of the sense of loneliness that had fallen upon his young shoulders and had nearly run into the small, excited princess.

To his surprise, she was giggling like mad and even walked with him after being helped up.

They'd walked and run through the gardens the entire nights, their laughter echoing through the flowery walls and had ended up on a hill as the dawn arose.

"Darien," her soft, slightly childish voice had whispered. "Do you think you could come to the moon and visit me sometime?"

He grinned at her, bubbling with contained excitement. "Only if you want."

Serena leaned over and hugged him so that Darien barely heard her reply, "I do," before the princess's guards, a group of girls no older then the princess herself, rushed towards them with yells of concern, laughter and slight anger. The four girls quickly surrounded the Princess and, with a nod of acknowledgment to the Royal Highness of the Earth, swept her away to be taken to the moon immediately.

The cat had lingered a moment, an amused expression on face, before following.

A week had already passed so why was he still dwelling on that moment? Prince Darien shook himself awake and stepped back into his room, closing the glass doors firmly behind him. Releasing velvet curtains, Darien drew them to cover the door and hide him from the moon.

"Darien, if you want the moon that badly, you shouldn't wait around for it to be handed to you."

The prince turned in surprise but relaxed as Serne, his sister if such a thing was to be believed, stepped out of the doorway and into his room.

Darien shrugged in reply and made to leave the room.

Serne stepped into his way.

Beginning to anger - and fear, his sister rarely confronted anyone and those meetings usually ended in the party going missing -Darien stepped back and glared at his sister. "Move it, I've got a ceremony to attend."

Serene laughed a horrid laugh. "Oh, please forgive, your highness," she rasped but stepped from his way.

Darien gave her a single last glare and moved by her. Her sharp black nails suddenly dug into his skin. "Don't," her dead voice whispered into his ear, "dare underestimate me, _dear_ brother." Her nails dug deeper and a hand clamped over his mouth to prevent outcry. "You'll find me a far harder opponent then any would have you think."

As quickly as the attack came, he was released.

Darien spun around, hand to his belt where his sword lay. "And don't you underestimate me sister," he snarled, surprising her as his sword was withdrew in a single smooth motion and pinned her against the nearest mirror with it. "The young don't live to be old without learning a few tricks to survive by and mine are the best."

"Well done, brother mine," Serne taunted, edging away from the sword's edge. "I guess you aren't as weak as the Kingdom pronounced you."

Darien glared but didn't fall for the taunt.

Serena's eyes widened in appreciation and she whispered, "I do believe I have underestimated you Darien."

"I know you have," was his tense reply.

Serne raised her hands in defeat and smiled, the first true smile he'd ever seen her show.

Lowering his sword but keeping it out in case, Darien nodded for her to speak.

"Brother mine, I have a plan I believe you'll enjoy."

"A plan? Why would you do such a thing sister? You are among the most rash people I know as well as being hasty and unprepared for every situation that arises. You never plan for anything unless it is to stir anger into the hearts of our people."

Serne laughed and placed a hand to her forehead. "Brother, I admit to those things except the planning. I do plan and my plans are carried out with success."

Intrigued, Darien motioned with a gloved hand. "Go on."

"But even you, with your high position, must admit to at least yourself that we currently are no better then slaves!"

"Slaves! How do you figure that?"

"Brother, even you must see, especially you, see how the Moon Kingdom watches over us, constantly telling us what to so, where to go, how to act and think and already have Father under their thumb. They've already tried to seduce you with their ways with that phony 'diplomatic' mission that went on last week. Please tell me that you haven't fallen for their fake smiles and oily tongues?"

Darien's thoughts drifted to the princess and her twinkling giggles. "Of course not. But why are you telling me these things? Young as I am, even I can recognize rebellious thoughts and actions and I also know the punishment for those actions is death. Why risk yourself with including a young and inexperienced brother?"

"I tell you because I love you. And because I intend to separate the Moon Kingdom from the Earth once and for all. The Earth will rule on her own, with her own and only by her own. The Moon Kingdom can't control us forever and if we force our hand now, they'd never expect it."

"By separate, you mean…"

"We rebel of course. The first action would be to killing-I mean, arresting all of the officials from the Kingdom and sending them a notice of our separation. After that, we'd wait for their actions and then do as they force is to.

Darien gave her a dubious look and shook his head, black locks flying free with the motion. "Sister, that cannot be. You have forgotten that the Moon Kingdom is Earth's protector-"

"Earth has no need of it!"

"-and is immensely strong-"

"I grow stronger then even the Queen!"

"-and with that power," Darien continued sharply, though his eyes filled with tears, they let no one go unnoticed." At the unseen signal, dozens of guards appeared from nowhere with the symbol of the Moon Kingdom on their outfits. His face fell as he saw the rage on Serne's face. "I'm sorry, sister. But the Kingdom will not let a would-be traitor go on living among their midst. And I would not have gone through with any plan you would have come up with-"

"You traitorous bastard!" Serne screamed in rage. "I'll get my revenge on you, prince-brother! You and the entire Kingdom will feel my wraith!"

The guards dragged her from the room and Darien slumped against the wall. His brimming eyes looked up into a dark corner of the room. "Will she be all right Father?" he whispered solemnly.

The Earth King strode for his hiding place and placed a reassuring hand upon his son's shoulder. "Yes, Darien. Do not worry. The Kingdom will never do anything without kindness."

Prince Darien's shoulders racked with silent sobs.

The King continued staring at the doorway where his only daughter had stood moments before and revealed the plans he and the Kingdom had long feared. It was true that her power grew mightier then any would have believed and had she set out on the road she's chosen, disaster would have struck for none would be prepared to face her alone.

"My son, I know that the place I had you play was hard for you to do and that you would not have done such a thing without me ordering you to but you must realize that your sister had to be caught and put away before the innocent were harmed."

The Prince nodded and wiped away his tears. "Yes Father."

"Good now tell no one of this and forget as soon as you can. No good will come from disobeying this order."

"Yes Father," Darien whispered but the King had already left his weeping son alone.

---------------------------

"Serne?" Darien whispered, finding himself lying back in his own room. His glazed eyes traveled around the room in confusion. "Was…was that a memory?"

---------------------------

R/R

-Black Rebel


	8. Faulty Loyalties

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Can't forget this now, can we. Yadda yadda ya, don't own GW or SM or anything else that might bring me the slightest amount of money.

------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master

Chapter 8 - Faulty Loyalties

'Wake up, foolish human.'

Philip groaned in protest. The kid who's definitely not a kid had nearly killed him and now they wanted him back up and running? Yea right.

'Philip.' The thought seemed to vibrate warningly in his skull.

Not now, he pleaded but could do nothing to stop his aching but awakening muscles. Eyelids flashing open, Philip's first thought was that it was morning. Sun glared in his eyes as though to prove the point.

"Ugh, where am I?"

"The same place you've been all night."

Philip whirled- or he tried to but ended up face down on soft, fresh smelling grass. Not that he actually needed to see the person to know who it was. "Heero."

"Hn." The sound of shifting grass named Heero as standing or sitting right in front of him.

"What happened?" Philip forced himself to a sitting position and tried to clear his searing headache. "Last thing I remember is…hey! You nearly killed me!"

Heero smirked at the accusation but made no move to contradict the statement. He was indeed standing, more like leaning against a tree, just watching as the sun arose. His clothing had changed so he now wore a crisp black suit but wore it in a more casual then formal way.

With his dark hair blowing in the cool morning breeze and his eyes fixed straight ahead, Philip couldn't help but think that Heero was the most terrifying person he'd ever met. Just the glimpse of the kid's power was enough to prove the point beyond doubt in Philip's opinion.

"Philip."

"Yea."

Heero turned his eyes to stare right into the blonde's dark verdant eyes. "You will tell me everything I want to know as well as anything that might attract my interest of this place." His tone warned Philip that any mistakes now would cost him his life.

Philip gulped with fear and lowered his eyes. "Yes…master."

------------------------------

What are you doing here? You better have a really good reason for waking me up" Serena hissed. It was barely 7 in the morning and someone was ringing the doorbell. Trust her mom to be out already with Sammy and her dad to be at work, leaving her to be the one who had to get up and see who it was.

"Heero told me to come."

Serena rubbed her eyes. "Who's Heero?"

The little girl standing in front of Serena's door giggled. "From last night? Remember?"

"Last night…OH!"

The girl laughed aloud as Serena nearly fell down in shock. She stopped as soon as Serena leaped back up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Um, I'm Rachael."

"You're his sister, aren't you!"

"What!" Rachael screeched. "No way, I just met him yesterday!"

"Then why was he hanging out with you. Come on, spill it. Why are you here?"

"I don't know, ok! I just met him yesterday at the park when he was heading over to the witch tree and he took me out to eat. By that time, it was already dark and Heero bought me a chocolate rose this big!" Rachael stretched out an arm.

"Augh! You're as big as Rini and as annoying!" Serena ignored the urge to get herself a chocolate rose 'that big' and shook the girl once more. "You're not telling me something!"

"SERENA!"

Gulping, Serena turned to see her mother, mouth hanging open with shock, and her brother giving her the 'you're in trouble' look. The brown paper bags Serena's mom had been carrying now lay on the floor and a sick yellow goo was oozing its way free.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING YOUNG LADY! YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION OR I'LL-"

"Good morning Mrs.," Rachael politely interrupted. "I'm sorry for interrupting but my name's Rachael and I go to the school with Rini. I'm her friend and I'm spinning the night. Is that ok with you?"

Mrs. Tskino had her mouth open in mid-speech. She gawked a moment before regaining her composure and turning back into a nice home mother. "Of course dear. Rini was at a friend's last night but she'll be back soon. Why don't you go inside and make yourself comfortable?"

"Thank you. You're the greatest," Rachael beamed at her, making her blush and walk inside bashfully.

Sammy made a face and followed.

Serena held her breath and when her mom didn't come rushing out with a scream, exhaled anxiously. "That was close." She gave Rachael a close look. "I didn't know you knew Rini."

Rachael did a twirl. "'Course I don't. Never met her before in my life!"

Serena's mouth dropped open. "What! How'd you know she's as old as you?"

With a smile, Rachael shook her head. "You told me so. Besides, every orphan learns to read between the lines. You told me everything I need to know. Well, I did my part. Heero said he'd come get me later so you just got to figure out a way to keep me here until then." The girl skipped inside and shut the door behind her.

Serena stood outside in her pink bunny pajamas in shock. The thought of having two Rini's in her house was…Heero was coming?

With a scream, Serena ran inside and up to her room. Got to get ready!

Her mom's voice rang through the hall. "Serena! You're friends are calling again!"

"Tell them I'm not here!"

"Ok. By the way, who is Amara? She wants you to call as soon as possible."

Serena groaned. So now the Outers were in on it too? She really didn't want to bother with anything having to do with the Sailor Scouts but the Outers always understood.

Later, she vowed, closing the door to her room behind her. I'll talk to them later. Now, what to wear…

------------------------------

Sydin nearly jumped when the bushes behind him moved but relaxed as Philip's blonde hair pushed its way through. Turning back to look at the shrine, he asked, "What took you so long? Did you find the kid?"

"What happened?" Philip asked, ignoring the question.

Shrugging, Sydin pointed at the shrine. "From what I can tell, the Outers left- the interesting thing being that they were in the company of four boys. The boys stayed in the car the entire time except for one. That one confronted the Outers when they left the temple and during their conversation, he told them that he didn't understand anything that was going on. Not in those exact words but the way he said it spoke of his ignorance that reminds me of Heero's ignorance."

"Heero's ignorance?" Philip asked, disguising a shudder.

"Yes. Heero had no knowledge of anything of this world- including the Scouts. The conversation inside the temple was so obvious that any bystander would have guessed who they were talking of yet this boy -and his companions- had no clue. I think it's possible that the Scouts had brought some more of those…Pilots, they were called from Heero's world as a possible defense."

Philip's ears perked up as Sydin's voice trailed off in indecision. "But…"

"But," Sydin started off again, pushing away stray silver hairs behind long ears. "When the boys first met the Outers, the Outers expressed serious shock and perhaps a little hostility at their arrival." Sydin sighed. "There's someone else behind all this. I do not like how everything is falling."

"Um, what else has happened? Where are the Inners?"

"Where else?" Sydin answered with an uncaring shrugged. "They wept at the accusations made of them by the Outers and decided to stay together and gain support from each other's presence. Nothing else to report except for the disappearance of the Sailor Scout of Destruction."

"So the 'Inners' as you call them are currently emotionally weak which will also affect their physical strength."

Sydin shoot up into the branches, sunlight shining off of his withdrawn scimitars. "Who's there?"

Heero's intelligent eyes seemed to glisten in the dark underbrush. Sydin hissed as Heero's presence made itself known. It was as though the world had gone still in Heero's appearance, his very presence silencing the once cheerfully singing birds and putting down the calm flow of wind.

"What are you doing here?" the dark elf seethed viciously.

Heero smirked but it was lost in the bush's cover.

Sydin glanced at Philip, shocked to see the man cowering and pale with fright. "Philip?"

"Is none of your concern," Heero answered in short, stinging tones.

"I didn't address you, puppet!" Sydin spitefully replied.

"Puppet?" Heero asked in a tone that sent Philip into a fit of shudders. His head tipped to the side in askance.

"Yes. That is all you are, a puppet brought to this domain to free the Mistress."

"Sydin," Philip whispered warningly.

Heero smiled bitterly. "If you stop now, I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he stated to the fae.

Sydin snorted. "You cannot harm me. I'm under Serne's own protection." As soon as the words left his mouth, Sydin found himself hitting the side of the temple's wall.

"Where's Serne when you need her," Philip muttered. Heero glared at him before calling up a magnificent black blade and stepping from the clearing to face the fallen elf.

----------------------------------

"What was that?"

The four Sailor Scouts, still dressed in their pajamas and half asleep, raced to see what the noise was. Artemis stretched lazily before also following.

Outside, what looked like a cloaked figure was struggling to stand. With a gasp, all four turned back and closed the door behind them, nearly trampling the white cat in the process. "Sorry Artemis, Mina apologized as she picked up the dazed cat and raced back into the relative safety of Ray's room.

"Guys, remember that whole enemy thing the Outers were talking about?" Amy reminded.

The others looked to Ray who sighed. So this is what leadership feels like? "Let's not take any chances. We better transform."

"Right!" Amy, Mina and Lita echoed, reaching for their pens as one.

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

A flash of light filled the area and within moments, the Sailor Scouts of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus stood in place of their daily counterparts.

Mars turned to the others, raven black hair brushing into her face. "Let's go guys!"

Overhead, a pair of ravens called out in warning. Mars looked up and mentally thanked them. An enemy was nearby.

Outside, the figure threw away his cloak with a cry of outrage, reveling long silvery hair and a definitely masculine stranger. Mars looked to Mercury who nodded and pulled out her mini-super computer. The sound of unnaturally fast typing filled the air.

"Got it!" Mercury announced triumphantly. More typing filled the air followed with Mercury's explanation. "Check this out. That guy's not even human. It says here he's some sort of alien."

"What kind?" Artemis asked from his spot next to Venus's boots.

"I'm not sure. The computer says he's a Dark Elf. Do you know what that is?"

"A dark elf!" Artemis screeched, attracting the attention of the said person. His power could be felt from this distance and Mars had an uncanny feeling that the 'elf' in question was sneering at them. "That's impossible! Dark elves were banished from the Earth millions of years ago, right about the time Queen Serenity was born!"

"But that's what he is," Mercury argued.

"Do you think he got left out," Venus speculated.

The elf started staggering, holding one of his arms in apparent pain.

Artemis shook his head. "No way. Dark elves were banished for a reason- they loved violence. The Moon Kingdom took special precautions to make sure that all of them got caught."

"Maybe the-"

"We have time to speculate later. Right now, we know that there's a Dark Elf who seems to be causing trouble. It's time to fight," Mars interrupted, throwing an apologetic look at Jupiter. Jupiter nodded bashfully. Mars glanced at Artemis. "How strong are these guys?"

"I don't really know. There's rumors of them being stronger then the Queen herself, of being strong enough that both the Earth's Kingdom and the Moon's were barely enough to stop them. Just be careful."

"They'd have to be pretty strong to attract the attention of both Kingdoms," Mercury added.

Mars gave the stumbling figure a calculating look, forming a plan. Her eyes widened as the glint of steel caught her attention. Swords, so he's close ranged. "Ok, listen up, he looks injured. Someone else must have been fighting him. As far as we're concerned, any enemy of this guy's a potential ally for us. Sailor Mercury, give us some defense with your Bubble Spray. Everyone else, attack when you get the chance. Try to stay as far away as you can. I think he's better at close ranged attacks then anything else."

"Why do you think that," Jupiter risked asking as Mercury already called up her Bubbles.

Mars replied in a casual voice, "I saw the swords he's carrying. The rumors may be true but they're probably only because the elves attacked in force. This is one against four. The odds are all for us. This should be no problem."

Venus and Jupiter gave Mars suddenly confident smiles. "Not quite four against one," Mercury said with sudden typing of her computer. "It seems like the guy who was attacking just joined us."

"What!"

Mercury waved a hand, clearing away the Bubble Spray.

Behind the wall of fog, a buy dressed in a black suit was attacking the elf viciously with swipes of a sword that left no room for mercy. Rakish dark brown hair fell before his face, covering him but doing nothing to pose a problem for his attack. The elf whipped out his own scimitars and the two danced around the Temple, nearly falling down the steps dozens of times. The mysterious guy looked as though he was barely holding his own, mostly on the defensive as his blade swung through the air like an extension of his arm.

The elf, looking shocked by his own skill, suddenly became smug and slashed at his opponent with exaggerated attacks, meant for torturing and harrowing enemies to the point of exhaustion. With each sweep, his blades came that much closer to the killing blow. The elf laughed as the other began to sag with weariness, the other's blade nearly falling from hand until it finally did, hitting the concrete with a solid thud. The elf nearly stumbled in surprise but recovered quickly enough. He began a final sweep of his sword, prepared to kill.

The Scouts watched in astonishment. Lita whistled, bringing everyone back to reality. Mars cleared her throat and ordered, "Let's go! That guy needs our help!"

With a nod, the four pressed forward. Mars unleashed her Flame Sniper, scoring burning scores along the elf's side while Mercury brought out her aquatic harp to attack with her Water Rhapsody. The elf howled in rage. His clothing was burned and then frozen over but from the look in his eyes, the battle was far from over.

"Jupiter!" Artemis shouted. The Dark Elf charged toward the Scout who brought up her hands and focused her energy. "Jupiter…Oak, Evolution!" she screamed as hundreds of sharp, electrifying leaves were sent into the air to embed themselves deep within the fae's skin.

"Venus, Love-Me Chain!"

Before another step was taken, the elf was restrained by Venus's attack and the four moved in to see what this new enemy was capable of. Mars kicked away his blades contemptuously. "Who are you?"

The elf sneered.

"Don't…try to talk to him," a weak voice called out. The Scouts turned to see the nearly defeated figure leaning heavily upon his sword. "Al- already tried to. Sydin won't listen."

"Traitor!" the elf Sydin snarled and began twisting in his chains. He turned to face Venus. "Let me go!"

"To be a traitor, one would have to be an ally first," the man continued. His breath was taken away with a hacking cough. "I…was never that."

"Are you ok?" Mars asked hesitantly, moving towards him. Her heart fluttered as his dark eyes glanced up at her uncertainly, revealing a mirror image of her own fear. He was handsome, as handsome as they come. There were a few scars on his face but her eyes traveled down his now torn suit, mouth drying as blood could be seen coming from several rips. Just the sight of his young face with its dark beauty sent shills of pleasure down her spine. He couldn't be much older then herself.

"Yea. Just need…a little rest." He slumped forward, sword falling from his grip to hit the concrete once more.

"Augh!" Mars leaped forward, barely catching him before he landed beside his blade which, up close, proved to be magnificent. She glanced at her fellow Scouts with panic in her eyes. "Let's get him inside. Now!"

"What about him?" Venus asked, nudging the indignant Sydin with her foot.

"Keep him tied up. We'll ask questions later and it'll do us no good to let him loose again. Mercury took a look at his wounds and pressed her lips together while hurrying into Ray's room with Lita and Mars following.

Venus nodded, focusing her energy to strengthening the chain she held around him. His eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't be able to do this," he accused her.

"W-What?"

"You shouldn't have enough power by yourself to hold me," he said again. As if the answer was found, his eyes widened and he sneered at her. "See?"

The chain broke. As the golden energy fluttered away into glowing dust, the elf stood and wiped away the dirt from his clothing. Ignoring Venus's stupefied stutters, Sydin began to walk away.

"Wait! Get back here! Venus, Love-Me Chain!"

Sydin waved the attack away. "I will come back to visit you and your…new 'friend' very soon. Warn him of that," he taunted and disappeared.

----------------------------------

"So you caught on?" Philip stated.

Sydin glowered. "Of course. It might have helped had I been warned."

Philip shrugged. "If you knew, you wouldn't have acted sincerely. To destroy the Scouts, Heero needed to be accepted by them."

"So," Sydin said, "you told him Serne wants him to destroy the Scouts. Will she accept his way?"

"I don't know. Does it really matter?"

"No. I just wish to know one thing?"

"What?"

"How strong-"

Philip shuddered. "Far stronger then you can imagine."

Sydin quieted a moment before a wicked smile appeared on his face.

Philip glanced at him then shook his head. "You're not still planning on…"

"Of course I am. Imagine that much power beneath your palm. To own Heero would be greater then any I've owned before. None that I've controlled before will compare."

"Sydin, you will never own Heero," Philip replied to the legendary elven Slave Master who'd escaped the Kingdoms' pursuit. "Such a thing will never be."

Sydin laughed. "The greater the challenge, the greater the prize. Owning and breaking this one will be the one event of my life that sets me apart as a God to my race. Heero…yes, even now, I can taste him."

As the two walked through the forest, Philip hid a knowing smirk at his brother's ramblings. To own such a power. If only they knew exactly how much power hid itself beneath Heero's dark gaze.

--------------------------------

"Hotaru."

No, I'm not going back. 

"Hotaru!" the voice took up a warning tone but she pushed it out of mind.

Hotaru glanced at her surroundings. She was back in the dream world haven she'd been visiting frequently. The still glowing moon silhouette lit the skies while hiding behind dark clouds. Dark clouds that currently matched her own mood- restless, fearful and angry.

Memories had been returning in full force. Usually, Amara or Michelle and once in awhile Trista would be there to explain the memories in detail, giving her a broader glance of the life she'd lived before. They said it was a cycle that she had to remember so she could learn. They could even slow those memories down, helping her understand each memory as it came instead of being trouncing her at once. Michelle once whispered that when her memories had returned, it took nearly a year to understand everything and to continue on with her current life. Without any of them here, the memories fell in pangs, flashing through her mind with startling clarity before another replaced it.

Hotaru breathed deeply, trying to slow them down and live each by itself as Amara had trained her to. It was a funny thing, the memories seemed to attack in legions whenever her mind wandered but whenever she truly focused, they disappeared.

This one, Hotaru thought sadly, was of her time on Saturn. Those were always filled with sorrow.

Living alone on her planet, revered as the First Daughter of the Great House of Saturn, Hotaru was too important to be bothered with such things as friends or even acquaintances. All around her, the whisk of a wind or an unnatural breeze announced her hulking guards, waiting wherever they could hide for her every command. Such was the life of a princess. Her only hope was to be picked, like her mothers before her, as a personal guard to the Moon Princess. Though, because her planet lay on the outer reaches of the Kingdom's rule, she would never have the closeness that the First Princesses of the closer, inner planets like Mars of Venus would have with the princess, there would be a friendship that she never had before.

At the moment, Hotaru was contemplating hanging around her brother. His carefree attitude always cheered her up.

But Dyad was too busy hanging with the Star Prince to bother with such a lowly person as his sister. He'd never admit such a thing but she knew her presence caused a strain whenever his friends were concerned.

Hotaru smiled slightly at the thought of the Star Prince, taking dainty steps to avoid puddles from the newly fallen rain. She was going on her daily walks though the parks of Saturn, letting her thoughts wander. Black hair brushed against a casual purple dress. The prince was one of few words but what he didn't say, he made up in looks. A prince was expected to be handsome but Astral took it to extremes. 

Usually, members of the Star family were fair in appearance with blonde hair and pale skin. Astral's sister, Cosmic, had inherited those traits with her pale skin and long, sandy blonde hair. His brother, Regal, also had platinum blonde hair that cascaded beyond his shoulders and a pale, elegant figure. Both took after their ancestors, believing in peace without conflict and preferring to talk rather then battle but appearances could be deceiving.

Hotaru knew that both would be prepared to fight should their decision be taken away and the power they held was immensely strong. Add the most intelligent commanders, allies and advisors and the Star Kingdom, though peaceful, was turned into the most powerful Kingdom existing.

Powerful enough that they could afford to appear weak. 

Powerful enough that they could afford not to take over planets and set up Houses to rule over, as the Moon Kingdom did.

Astral seemed to have taken off the conventional path, the first of his rather unusual traits being his appearances. Dusky, wild hair shadowed his enigmatic dark blue eyes. Everything about him seemed mysterious, obscure and shrouded by a veil few could ever see through. His skin wasn't as pale as his siblings, evidence of his outdoor activities most nobles turned down. And while his brother and sister surrounded themselves with friends and allies, Astral kept only a chosen few in his circle of confidence. Dyad, from her own Great House, was one of those.

Hotaru closed her eyes. Who else was in Astral's group?

Kiln, from the Great House of Mars was one. Hotaru frowned at the thought. Kiln, with his onyx orbs and sleek black hair was too proud for her own taste. And he wasn't truly a prince in the sense that his parents were currently ruling the planet. The only reason he was recognized as a person of high authority was because his line, the one that had previously ruled the planet, was totally destroyed when he was a child. The next in line had adopted him in a way, taking him into their custody but leaving him with his true name and line.

Callous was also involved in Astral's confidence. The silent prince of Jupiter's Great House was nearly as quiet as Astral but had none of the Star Prince's dark looks. Instead, the tall prince had a casual, indifferent look to him, handsome in his own way. Callous was also an extremely talented athlete, Astral's mentor and the two could be called brothers.

The blonde haired Rue from Mercury's wise Great House could have been mistakenly thought to be from the Star Kingdom, was perhaps a lost child or distant bloodline. The whole of Mercury's current ruling family line seemed to be taken straight from one of the Star's vein. Rue was fair headed with pale skin and whose philosophies of peace came from a close experience of violence. His father was killed while protecting his family from a raid during a mandatory visit to the Moon Kingdom. His mother had died years before and he was the only male of his family line. Rue ruled Mercury with an air of kindness and justice though rumor told of him soon giving his position up to another line.

Astral's last friend, and his worst choice in many of the Royals' opinion, was Hotaru's own brother Dyad. Hotaru wondered at the choice herself but never questioned it. Dyad was fun, loved life and had already pledged never to take up his rightful position as King of Saturn's Ruling House. Unusual was one of the more understanding words used to describe Dyad's decision. But then again, Dyad wore his hair long and in a braid, a bizarre hairstyle especially in these days where the popular style was to have your haircut short and clean. Hotaru protected her brother and his habits whenever she could, but it was becoming too much for even her.

As though he'd heard her last thought, Dyad busted through a nearby bush, spraying water droplets on his sister as he raced by with a gleeful expression. "Sorry sis," he called without turning. "Try to keep Astral busy, ok? Just distract him!"

"What?" Hotaru asked, shaking off the water. She turned to where he had run off. "Dyad?"

The bush shook once more, catching her off guard again as Astral ran through with an angry look in his dark eyes.

Hotaru let out a shocked yell and tried to move from his way but got barreled over.

Astral immediately jumped up and helped her to her feet. "I'm sorry princess," he murmured as he helped her shake off fallen leaves from her hair. "I didn't see you."

Hotaru raised a muddy hand, disgusted by the grime, and did the only thing she could think of.

She wiped the mud across Astral's face.

He blinked, utterly confused for a moment before she suddenly realized what happened and began laughing. Astral gave her a shocked look before a slight smile also broke across his face.

"That's what you get," she began but was silenced as her reached down and threw mud across her already soiled dress.

It was her turn to be shocked.

Within minutes, Dyad came back to see the muddy and hysterically laughing forms of his best friend and his sister, rolling around in the mud and throwing whatever they could at each other. "Did I miss something?" he asked innocently.

Mistake. A moment later, the two mud creatures had attacked him with loads of mud and had changed the once-clean prince into one of their own. The mud fight lasted nearly an hour before Cosmic had come to announce Astral's departure, a smile twitching at her mouth. They had left…

Hotaru breathed deeply as the memory departed and was relived when the onslaught seemed to stop. The latest memory had information she needed. Astral…

Was Heero. Her first memory of the Star Kingdom had come when she'd first seen Heero. But that memory had been…much more personal.

"Hotaru, you can't stay here."

Hotaru sighed. I know. But I can't go back knowing that Heero's there and that he's going to be attacked. Attacked and I can't do anything about it.

"Hotaru, your friends are worried."

Hotaru looked up to see the apparition of her long dead mother. Her mother, a near look alike to the late Queen Serenity had taken form from her daughter's memories, the same way Serenity could reach out from the past to Serena. Ignoring the chiding look her mother gave, Hotaru turned back to look at the glowing moon.

I always wanted to be…loved. I can remember how lonely I always felt. My mother had been picked to guard Queen Serenity and had died while doing that, just after my birth. All of the women in my line did the same, living long enough to give birth to a girl or boy before being dying for the currant ruler of the Moon Kingdom.

My mother was special. She lived long enough to give birth first to a boy, my brother, then to me about a year later.

"Hotaru, please. You mustn't stay here. Perhaps you can help Heero gain the memories you both share and stop a fight before it happens."

Hotaru shook her head. It's not that I don't want to help, it's more like I know I would be more of a stumbling block. I still can't come to the extent of my full powers and with my training halted…

"Hotaru, you will leave this place now." Her mother frowned at her and shook a finger. "You would rather stay here and feel sorry for yourself then try to be useful to your friends. If you make me, I'll kick you out of here and not let you in until you learn better."

You can't do that!

"Watch me."

----------------------------------

Duo leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table, oblivious to the glares the three 'Sailor Scouts' were sending him. "I think I heard this story one too many times for my liking." Violet eyes traveled over to Trista's shocked face. "In fact, you were the one who told it to us."

Amara glared at Trowa. "You said that neither you or your companions knew anything of the Moon Kingdom."

"I only said that because we were being watched. To have said anything else while caught in the act of spying by another spy would have been too risky." Trowa took a sip from the warm tea Michelle was passing out.

The group was currently resting at Trista's apartment building, a first class suite as the top of the complex. The apartment was strangely empty of everything. Nothing, couches, beds, refrigerators included, was in the apartment. At least, Duo could've sworn there was nothing until a minute ago. Trista had said something then turned on the lights and the room was suddenly turned into one of those Hollywood dream rooms. Chandeliers, pushrag carpeting and huge, glass windows all over the place. Most of the coloring was a dark green and there were a lot of weird things all over the place.

One room had even been converted into a science lab. Trista's metal staff leaned against a counter in the corner, the huge key-like thing just waiting for an unsuspecting person to trip over its inclined form.

"How would you know if we were being watched?"

"Come one, we're Gundam Pilots," Duo drawled to the aquamarine haired Michelle. "We were trained to know these things. The question should be how could you not know."

"Quiet Maxwell. You did not know of this intruder until Trowa pointed him out," Wufei voiced

"Enough of this," Quatra announced. "We're getting nowhere." He gave everyone a pleading glare. "There are two important people missing and the sooner we trust each other, the sooner we can find them. Please everyone, we shouldn't be fighting among ourselves."

Trista stood and glanced at her fellow Scouts. Her back was leaning against a dark wall. "I have to admit that my future sense doesn't seem to be working," Michelle whispered something and Amara nodded her head grimly. "This means that the future has been changed greatly from some recent event- the bringing of your friend here would explain that."

"I'm the Sailor Scout of Time, which means that all things should be known to me. This loss of ability hinders me immensely."

Duo laughed. "You mean you know the future? You're other' self forgot to mention that!"

Trista shook her head. "I don't see the future. In a sense, I'm in every time, so I'm continually experiencing everything- the future and past included. This has never happened before. The future had already happened when your friend came over. He somehow tainted that future until it became too clouded to see. My presence, from all times, is now being trapped in this time period. It is dangerous because I need to be other places to perform other things."

"Couldn't you just go back into the past and fix it so Heero didn't come?" Quatra asked.

"No. It is forbidden."

"What do you mean 'forbidden'? Will you get punished or something?"

Trista glared hatefully at Duo. "I have the ability to freeze time. I used this ability, though it was forbidden, to save my friends so that a great evil would not be unleashed onto the Earth. As a punishment, I was given the knowledge of the Moon Kingdom's destruction. I knew it would end for thousands of years before it even began. I even knew the exact moment Queen Serenity would give up her last breath."

"Trista," Michelle murmured. The green haired woman glared at her viciously, eyes brimming with forbidden tears.

"I could have done something," Trista cried, falling against the wall with tears streaming down her face. "I could have warned the people, whispered some hint of what was coming so the battle wouldn't have been the slaughter it was. I knew, but then my future self used the power to save the world and I was left without the power to save anything. When I use such power, it always backlashes against me, its own punishment."

"Trista, stop." Amara stood and started for the weeping warrior.

Trista moved back. "You must understand that you, with all your power, have nothing to fear of destroying the world because you accidentally moved a rose petal before its time. Such small acts seem just those, small acts to you. To me, the slightest pebble falling into a stream will start a civil war resulting in the death of the beheading of innocents just because they were walking down a street at the wrong time. But now, I don't know what my actions will do! I don't know if this tear," a finger wiped away the crystalline liquid from her cheeks, "will be the only thing preventing a bird from falling and dying on the street, distracting a taxi driver to the point where he accidentally kills a three year old child walking home with her mother."

"Is that what you worry about," Trowa whispered. He stalked past Amara and took Trista by the shoulders. "You worry that you cannot control everything, that you can't protect everyone. But that's just the thing. You can't! Nothing you do will prevent the infant whose mother doesn't even want him from being thrown into a garbage can at 2 am. There are some things you can't control, no matter how long you try! If you try too hard, you'll end up just like this- nearly dead from exhaustion and weeping because a flower petal fell from the table a moment before it should have. Not everything can be planned. Not everything can be prepared for. The only thing you can do is follow your emotions," Trowa winced at the remark, "or so a good friend once told me. I'm going to follow my instincts and try to find that friend as soon as I can. You can stay here and worry about things you couldn't do anything about or you can get back to living the life you were born for."

Trista stared at him. Everyone did.

Duo broke the tension by chuckling quietly. "Trowa, I didn't know you could say so much!"

Wufei trembled with near rage. "Is that all you can do, baka? Laugh?"

Duo's answer was to laugh harder as Wufei's face grew red.

Quatra cleared his throat. He glanced at everyone. "I think we should go now and find Serena. And the other girl…"

"Hotaru," Michelle supplied, still watching Trista with concern.

"Thank you. Since we have no idea of what Serena looks like and I can hardly remember Hotaru, we should all split up into two groups- Trista, Trowa and Duo in one, the rest of us in the other."

"Since when did you become leader?" Amara demanded.

Quatra smiled timidly but it was Wufei who came to his rescue. His eyes blazed as he nearly shouted, "We have continually shown our intentions are clean as well as our own skill great enough to match if not overboard yours. If you prefer to fight us we will separate and find Heero on our own." The Chinese glared at the Scouts and pointedly leaned against the door.

Michelle actually smiled. Nudging Amara, Michelle walked after Wufei. "I agree," was all she said as she walked to the door and opened it.

Everyone was completely caught off guard when Michelle opened the door to see an aggravated Serena with a young girl hanging on her arm. "Do any of you know someone named Heero? Real cute guy dressed in complete black? Was at the candy store last night?"

When no one answered, Serena looked around in bewilderment. "What!" 

------------------------------

"What's your name?"

Heero blinked, feigning weakness. "Heero Yuy."

"Heero." The now detransformed Ray rolled the name on her tongue. She was wiping at his forehead with a damp rag, careful not to get him too wet. His shirt and black suit jacket lay in a pile near the door, taken off when she started to treat his wounds.

There were a dozen scars on his body but nothing recent.

That someone her age would have scars like that…she winced as she traced a particularly deep one lying across his cheek. It made no sense, but then again nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

"Do…you know where the Scouts are?"

Ray drew her hand back in shock. "The Scouts? What are you talking about?"

Heero's troubled eyes found her and he replied evenly, "I was in a battle and saw the Scouts before I collapsed. Where did they go?"

Ray went back to sponging his face. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said nervously, hoping he couldn't tell she was lying. "Me and my friends woke up to you on the Temple steps. You were hurt so we brought you in. are you all right?"

Heero's eyes closed. "I must find the Scouts," he whispered dryly. "Master…slave on the loose. Need help…" his voice trailed off and his breathing changed into deep, painful intakes.

Ray sighed and grabbed a nearby blanket, tucking it around him. She hoped the hastily set up cot would suffice and, after giving Heero one last look, walked out the door.

Heero waited a moment longer and opened his eyes, the Prussian pools sparkling with excitement.

Serne had ordered him to destroy the Scouts. So, to keep up appearances, he would do just that. These girls were terribly weak so he would train them into a powerful fighting force. Then, when the time came, he would allow his friends to find him and would reveal the truth to them.

Astral smiled softly. If Serne only knew the seriousness of her mistake, if she only knew the truth behind all this…memories came at will and Astral/Heero sighed. The world was once again spinning into chaos. The Star Kingdom was needed once more, though this time the Kingdom's full force would be shown. This evil dared to destroy one of the Kingdom's own, an act that would call for an attack none could withstand. To corrupt a Star Kingdom heir would call for utter annihilation. To attempt to do so called for nothing less.

The others would need to be awakened, Astral thought as he walked to the door. And the Sailor Scouts would prove invaluable in this task.

------------------------------

Author's Note:

None, nothing, nada. I'm cool. Just review, por favor (AUGH! My spanish lessons are really coming in handy! Gracias, 

de nada)


	9. Side Story

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: hahahah. No. Don't own a thing. If you want a more thorough explanation…

------------------------------------------------------------

Puppet Master

Side Story

"Astral"

Astral turned to see the image of perfection, running towards him with a flowing trail of gold behind her. He had just begun a walk through the Moon Kingdom's grounds, enjoying the smells as they called to him. Such a luxury was lost on many in this day of peace but the threat of war constantly wore on Astral's mind. The fragile peace was beginning to wear. A certain incident involving the Earth current king's only daughter was still fresh on his mind though it was years old. 

But such dark thoughts were all placed second to the one before him. His head bowed in acknowledgment. "Serenity, how are you doing these days?"

Serena paused and adjusted her dress, pressing out folds before smiling at him. "Astral, please, just call me Serena. How many times have I told you that?" Her arm unconsciously locked with his own and they continued walking, fingers twined. "I thought your friends were visiting and yet you stay here in the garden alone. Where are they?"

He smiled softy. "They wander, wondering over the vast beauty of this place. And how many times have I ignored that remark? You are the daughter of the possibly most powerful kingdom in the galaxy. Your rank accords you with honor." Pain flickered through his eyes before being hidden by a dark mirror-like look, revealing nothing of his thoughts. "Such honor that you shouldn't be out here. Where are your personal guards? And what of your fiancé, Prince Darien?"

Serena waved his concerns away with a twinkling grin. "I gave them all the day off."

Astral's eyes widened slightly. "I don't believe I've heard of any other occasion where a princess so easily dismissed her fiancé."

Serena laughed good-naturally before quieting suddenly. Her moon changed to a more somber, reflecting attitude telling of the stress she was under. After a moment of silence, she stopped walking and looked into his dark eyes intently. "Astral. There's to be war."

"Of course there is. Such as my Kingdom has predicted and prepared. We have already told the Queen of the danger pressing down on her. She gives us no acknowledgment, which is the most pressing news we must speak. Long has the Star Kingdom ignored the Moon's ways, even to the point where we have stopped considering the Moon an enemy."

"Must this point be brought up again?" Serena's eyes closed with tried patience. "Our colony planets receive our rule with warmth. Had they not, the Moon Kingdom would have allowed them to continue ruling on their own."

Astral stared ahead towards the stars. "The 'colony planets' have no other known guidance. The Moon Kingdom all but forced itself on their newly formed Houses, giving the planets no true choice in the matter. But that is not the matter I wish to speak of. These past few years have been most trying because Queen Serenity refuses to accept our warnings and envoys between us have frozen. Do you have any idea why the Queen is acting this way?"

"My mother senses no danger," Serena whispered, allowing him to continue walking with herself still draped on his arm. "And we trust her judgment. True, the dark forces have been restless of lately but the Dark Queen Beryl knows she cannot beat the Kingdom. They have already been beaten back so many times, why would they try again?"

"Then why are you worried?" Astral questioned, ignoring the question he really wanted to ask. What makes you think Beryl hasn't gotten stronger?

Her pale lips trembled a moment. "I…cannot stand the thought of war," she confessed. Her eyes reached to search his and, finding no taunting laughter hidden within the deep blue depths, continued saying, "I know it is only to fight the evil kingdom, but the thought of soldiers fighting and dying takes my breath away." Her eyes filled. "This thought has been on my mind for much time now, Astral. At first, I thought to cure my weakness by allowing myself to know the common solider, thinking to be disgusted by him and thus lessening my pain. But I was so wrong…"

"Every solider, whether the common solider or the ranking general, has their own place on the battlefield as in life, Serenity," Astral leaned near her ear to whisper gently. "And while one outranks the other, it doesn't mean the general is more of a man. Every solider, even the Perfect Solider if there is such a thing, has a soul more unique then can ever be ignored. To think that because one is common automatically describes them as a savage is also to think that because one is ranked, he is as altruistic as the grandest noble- neither of which is true."

"I wish I had never met them," she cursed in haggard breaths. Her eyes were squeezed to hide tears.

Astral took her chin in his hand and looked her in the eyes. "That would be a wrong choice of wishes, princess."

"How," she demanded viciously. "How can being ignorant of the personalities behind the good men who will die fighting for me be wrong? If I don't know who they are, how can I get hurt by their deaths?"

"Listen to yourself," he replied just as viciously, "You claim to be a just leader yet you shield yourself from the truths of this world. If you do not mourn for your men, who will? If you do not know their joys, their pains, it will be lost forever. Honor their memories by treasuring every moment you have with them and know that if they truly know you, they will fight that much harder to protect you. They will remember every smile you gave them, every kind word and will repay you by trying that much harder to live to see you again. Think princess, for if you don't none will."

Their noses were only inches apart as he finished, glaring at each other with angry eyes.

Serena could feel his hand, still holding her face to his, and nearly shivered from being so close to the prince. His eyes was what drew her to him, endless pits of emotion that constantly battled behind a wall of ice she rarely saw through…

"Prince Astral, please, your father is waiting for you in the Courtroom."

Astral's sister's personal servant, Valet, bowed deeply to the prince before waiting for him to follow.

Astral stepped away from Serena and bowed stiffly, walking after the old butler who'd served he family most of his life. His thoughts drifted to the naïve moon princess. She'd been convinced that the Moon would not be defeated. Beryl's last official attempt to overthrow the Moon Kingdom had been recorded hundreds of years ago, enough time to immerse the Kingdom's Royal with arrogance and pride. Mixed with the fact that since that times, Beryl and her minions had seemingly departed and the Kingdom was full with fools believing themselves immortal to the dark one's attacks.

They seemed to have forgotten that during the clashes with Beryl's armies, outright attack rarely occurred. Beryl proved herself partial to sneaky and cunning traps to defeat opponents. Thousands of attacks had actually happened, at least that the Star Kingdom was aware, the latest being the greatest. King Salem's own daughter Serne had turned against the family, trying unsuccessfully to convert the heir Prince Darien, and would have caused enough damage had she gone unchecked to clear the way for Beryl's minions. A tip from the Star Kingdom- not actually given to the Earth's Kingdom but rather passed through careful allies- had prevented that.

Astral sighed, attracting Velet's eye.

"Something wrong, young master?" the old and kind man asked politely.

A smile came to Astral's face. "It is nothing to concern yourself with, Valet. How goes my brother and sister?"

Valet chuckled, raising a heavy eyebrow. "Your brother Regal has been caught stealing away with a certain lieutenant of the Kingdom's special regiments by the name of Lucrezia."

"Lucrezia? Is she the one with the blue hair? Regal has been caught walking around the grounds with her many times hasn't he?" Astral asked with a grin.

The servant nodded in agreement inwardly pleased to see the young master smile. He did so rarely these days…

"What of my sister Cosmic?"

Valet gave Astral a knowing look. "She insisted on attending the meeting with your father. She wouldn't have it any other way."

"As long as she's safe…" Astral glared at the sky.

When they'd first visited the Moon Kingdom with their father, it had not ended on a good note. Cosmic and Astral were given leave to wander around the Moon Palace. Thinking themselves safe, Astral had lead his sister on an exciting adventure through the palace to a mysterious room, claiming to know where he was and always heading towards a pot of treasure. Cosmic had followed with complete trust in her brother, never knowing that just inside the room a hungry youma awaited a taste of their fresh young blood. Had it not been for the secret lessons Regal had been giving his brother or the fact that Cosmic screamed loudly, the youma would have completed the mission Beryl had assigned- killing the youngest Star Kingdom heirs thus throwing the two powerful Kingdoms at each other's throats.

The Star Kingdom refused to do anything less. The fact that one of their own had nearly been killed called for war. With the two youngest members of the Royal Family put at risk, only total annihilation would suffice. Both Astral and Cosmic argued against that way and finally got their father to concede not to attempt eradicate the Moon.

Though agreeing not to go to an all out war on its once ally, the Star Kingdom expelled any of the Moon's diplomats and quite a few known spies as well as terminating contacts between the two. Preparations for war were made by both and the two kingdoms were locked in a heavy stalemate for nearly twelve years. As it happened, during that time Astral found many reasons to visit his friends on planets such as Saturn and Mars while the Moon's princess Serenity, also called Serena, visited the same time.

They didn't keep their friendship secret, one of the main reasons the Kingdoms resolved their differences and now were able to hold a shaky alliance.

"Did the Kingdom listen to us?" Astral wondered aloud.

"I still think they believe themselves safe from harm. It is quite odd. Our Kingdom, far away, can feel the armies gathering around the Moon yet they themselves feel no threat." Valet gave Astral a questioning look.

"I have wondered that myself. It is possible that the Queen has sensed this and refusing to acknowledge the threat. The Princess is assured that they will not lose. Or it may be that the Queen understands something we do not know."

"Could it be that the Queen is losing her powers? Or could the Crystal not be responding?"

Astral's eyes widened at the thought. "It would explain many things…but to keep such a dramatic loss such a secret while allies are warning you of known dangers nearby would be foolish…the Queen has been acting far too calm about the entire matter," Astral declared. "I admit I am worried more about the calm air about her then the danger around."

"Will you ask you're friends then?"

Nodding, the two were silenced as Princess Serenity's personal guard walked by without a word. Five girls from five planets, each bearing the symbol of their home while none appeared older then the Princess.

As they filed by, Astral's eyes searched for the detached guard secretly assigned to the Princess as well.

They too walked by in the same fashion, though there were only two of them. Traces of their energy signals swirled in the air about Astral and even Valet was able to pick up on the pair's home planet.

"Neptune and Uranus. I've heard that they were strong…"

Astral shook his head. "They can't even mask their energy signals."

"The training undergone in your Kingdom is much more then any accomplished here. They think woman can't be pressed as hard as men so the personal guards- all women- have free reign to train as they please."

Astral smiled without mirth. "The meeting is almost over?"

"It is over." Cosmic stepped from a darkened room and smiled sweetly. "But there was really nothing going on. Good day Pagan."

Valet smiled at her pet name for him. "Cosmic. Shall I leave you alone to discuss anything?"

Before Cosmic could reply, Regal stepped from the same room and answered, "If you wouldn't mind, Valet." A decorated short blue haired woman who held herself with a military stance closely followed him.

"Of course. Good day Master Astral, Cosmic, Regal. Good day Lieutenant Lucrezia." Valet bowed once and disappeared back down the hall he and Astral had just arrived from.

"Lucrezia, it is good to meet you." Cosmic reached forward and grasped the woman's hand. "I have heard of your students. Their work highlights your own. You must be an excellent teacher to have so many passing into the specials. I don't think there's ever been that many regiment recruits coming from a single teacher."

Lucrezia blushed modestly. "I do my best, Princess," she replied nervously.

Astral nodded his agreement. "You're current position suits you. From what I can tell, your work with the students has been greater then anything else you've done. And please," he added with a smirk, "call me Astral."

"Heero," Regal murmured darkly, immediately quenching the somewhat light mood. "There are many things going on."

"And many rooms with windows as eyes and walls as ears," 'Heero' answered warningly. He smiled as the confused Lucrezia and motioned with his hand. "This way. Sanctuary lies where most believe there is none."

The group walked outside and through the gardens. Cosmic picked a few flowers, breathing in their scent and gathering enough to present an apology gift for their mother. Enough 'meetings' had gone on between the trio. Experience taught that the meetings lasted beyond the expected time and that their mother could usually be softened up to forgive their tardiness.

They continued walking with 'Heero' giving his brother sharp glances of warning.

Regal sighed and nodded.

After several minutes of walking, Heero lead them into a clearing surrounded by roses and muffled by a nearby stream. Stone benches and a frail wooden canopy were the only signs of civilization. Heero gave a flourishing bow, and said, "Welcome to the hidden sanctuary."

"It seems to be safe," Regal muttered, conducting a few tests to prove that none could listen in on their discussion.

"Of course it is, Zechs," Cosmic chided. "When has Heero been wrong?"

"Heero? Never. But then again, we usually wait until we're back in the Kingdom, Relena. Don't be sure that…" Heero understood Zechs's sudden quiet. Memories of the Moon did not run fond.

"Wait, who are all these names?" Lucrezia broke in.

"I'm sorry-"

"Can she be trusted?" Heero asked tensely.

Lucrezia's eyes widened in disbelief. What was once confusion turned to anger. "I've lived my whole life in the Kingdom, Astr-"

"Heero," Relena broke in quietly.

Lucrezia glared. "Heero," she spat. "And all my life, I've done everything I could to support your family's rule. And you dare ask if I'm loyal!"

Heero smiled. "Please forgive me," he apologized, "but with the war so close, one cannot trust anyone. So I'll ask again, can you be trusted?"

"She can," Zechs answered.

Heero glanced around for confirmation.

"I believe her!" a voice called out from the bushes.

"What!" Zechs leaped back in shock.

"I thought this place was secure!" Relena yelled to Heero.

Heero shrugged nonchalantly. "It is. Come out, Dyad. I know its you."

Dyad, shaking the leaves from his braid, stepped from the bushes with a curse. "I'll never get these out. And did you know those roses have thorns!" he shook his head ruefully. "Such beauty with such pain. Augh! There I go, talking royal again-"

"Tell the others they can come out as well," Heero interrupted, still ignoring his brother's, sister's and newest ally's shocked expressions.

"But it's just-"

"Now, Duo."

Dyad cringed mockingly at the name. "Sure, you got to go and pull out the big names, huh."

"Duo," Heero growled menacingly.

"Fine. You guys heard. You can come out."

From the bushes, three more emerged in a much more extravagant manner. Though not wearing their royal garments, all were recognizable as-

"Your majesties," Lucrezia gasped, bowing deeply as the crown princes- and current king- of three planets shook off leaves and occasional thorns from their common clothing. "I-"

"Please," Callous, the prince of Jupiter stopped her with a slightly pained voice, "now is not the time for such."

Kiln and Rue, prince of Mars and King of Mercury, nodded.

"Oh, so these are your mysterious friends," Relena broke out suddenly. "Hello, what's your name?" Heero winced as her act was started. Zechs cringed as well. When Relena wanted, she could act out every blonde joke there was, inventing quite a few during her show. Her voce changed to a higher pitched and looser version, giving the impression of innocence, naivete as well as an annoying blonde.

"Hello, Mrs. Relena," Rue whispered softly. "How blows the wind for thee?"

Relena's eyebrows raised in shock. "It blows well, though its words are forever lost to me," she answered, finishing the code phrase.

Dyad laughed. "Honestly, Relena, I could see right through that."

"You know me, yet the wind says nothing of you," Relena said, picking her words carefully. Heero leaned against the wooden canopy to watch how she handled herself.

"I am a double, one side secret to the world. Wind dies out before gathering the strength to carry my secrets away," Dyad replied proudly.

"Fire burns at the feet of the greatest dragon, wishing that the wind would release it to more honorable prey," the dark haired prince of Mars stared into Relena's eyes, refusing to release her gaze.

"Bemoaning the death of the sand as water creeps in, tears are wiped away as the wind rushes by," Rue's eyes gave a glint of innocence hidden and buried beneath years of turmoil.

"The silent do not cry, yet even clowns hide painted smiles to fight beside a rushing wind," Callous whispered gently into the air.

"Should the wind speak of us, none would hear," Heero added. "The wind carries many tones, each giving strength and necessary weakness."

"With all its strengths, a double cannot remain, the fire will surrender, the sand discovers new life beneath the water's waves and the clown will cry before the fight is over," Relena recited with clear understanding.

"What's this about, Heero?" Zechs questioned, tilting his head in confusion. "I did not know that these were involved."

"Zechs, Millardo rather, what happened in the meeting?"

"First tell me who these are." Millardo didn't blink an eye at the changed code name.

"Duo." The braided teen came forward and smiled, shaking Millardo's hand. His harmless attitude gave way to a dark, deadly personality. "Remember the other," he whispered darkly, twisting Millardo's hand.

"Wufei." Millardo, massaging his hand, heard nothing else.

"Quatra." The King shook his head remorsefully. "That we might have meet under cleaner circumstances."

"Trowa." Again, no other introduction added.

"Lucre- Noin." Millardo shook his head in dismay as his top lieutenant willingly added her name to the list of accomplices.

"Duo," Relena whispered, "you are the prince of Saturn, aren't you?"

Duo grinned. "'Course not. The prince died a long time ago."

Heero shot Relena a look and shook his head. Now was not the time. "The meeting?" he prompted.

Millardo nodded. "The Queen refused to accept our warnings, as expected. However, I've noticed that there are no Earthlings in the palace, not even the princess's fiancé Prince Darien. I don't understand why…"

"The reason is that there have been several attacks on the Moon Kingdom's property on the Earth," Trowa answered. "The relationship between the Earth and the Moon has been strained since the accident with the King's daughter but with the recent attacks, the Moon is beginning to suspect a conspiracy from the Earth."

"It would make sense," Noin agreed. "Many among the Moon's Royal have distrusted the Earth for their entire lives. They'd go for any chance to attack the Earth. Perhaps they planned the attacks?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, the materials destroyed were of too much value to carelessly waste on blaming the Earth. It would be an honor-less way to start a war and the Queen still shows enough integrity not to fall for such a trap."

"It is Beryl." Heero calmly stated what most knew but didn't want to admit.

Noin nearly choked. "What!"

Quatra nodded. "It is the only explanation. Her attacks have increased and-"

"What attacks?"

"Noin!" Millardo's sharp voice made her wince.

"And," Quatra continued, not the least bit insulted by the interruption, "even the Star Kingdom has felt her presence swarming around this place like a bad disease."

"The attacks Quatra refers to aren't publicly accepted as Beryl's work," Wufei said, clenching his teeth. "The conversion of King Salem's daughter, for instance."

"And the death of your line is another," Noin whispered. "How many attacks do you know of?"

Millardo shrugged. "There are thousands. But narrowing it down to every single case is too difficult. We instead witness the change of the Earthlings personalities as a whole. Occasionally, a few cases are large enough to be set aside as a direct attack from Beryl," Wufei winced, "but most of our evidence comes from Earth."

"Why Earth?"

"Earth is the weakest planet," Trowa explained to Noin. "It is the closest to the Moon, Beryl's target, and has never fully accepted the Moon like the other planets. The marriage between Serenity and Darien would have as likely cemented the relationship between the two Kingdoms as it would have torn them apart."

"As of lately," Relena continued, "the Earth's populous as a whole has become more and more rebellious towards the Moon. The tinniest emotions erupt in the attacks noted by the Kingdom and as a result, the Moon is cut off from its nearest ally. Mars or Venus would help but their Kingdoms aren't prepared for war. None of the planets are. These are peaceful times, peaceful ways are the only ways the people know of. Thrusting this war upon them will not end up good for any of the planets."

"But, the Queen knows this."

Trowa nodded at the incredulous stares. "She's always known that Beryl would break free."

"But why would she risk all the lives?" Noin asked.

Heero shook his head. "There is rumors of a Sailor Scout of Time…"

Trowa nodded. "I've seen her once or twice, but she exists."

"Perhaps this Scout of Time has revealed something to the Queen. Or the Crystal might not be responding to the Queen."

"Heero, is that possible?" Millardo asked,

Another shrug. "It's very likely."

"Likely, yet not likely," Wufei stopped mid-sentence. "Someone comes."

From the path between the bushes, a tall, auburn haired woman stepped into view. Before anyone else could register who it was, Heero hissed in pain.

"Beryl!"

The woman laughed. "Indeed. So, it truly comes down to this. The Star Kingdom's heirs plotting to take me down. And I never would have guessed such a thing were possible if that foolish waste of a child Serne hadn't warned me of your existence. Honestly, I never gave the 'peaceful' Star Kingdom a second thought. I don't think I gave it a first one, either. Oh well."

Beryl stretched out her hand. "I guess it's too late to be worrying about that now, isn't it. Maybe I'll give Serne some credit after all, once I destroy the Moon Kingdom of course."

Everyone was frozen in their positions as Beryl sent a ball of energy their way. "Bye now."

A moment later, where the eight had just been was only a black hole. Beryl rubbed her hands together in glee. "That's taken care of-"

__

It's not finished.

Beryl frowned. "Of course it's done. They're gone and no one else suspects-"

__

Check again.

Still frowning, Beryl glanced back and was shocked to find the bodies of all eight in the same position, frozen in time. "What is going on?"

__

The God of Time prevents you.

Beryl snorted. "There is no God of Time. This is nothing I can't beat."

__

You will only waste energy. The war is soon. Do not waste your time.

"Fine. What do you want me to do? Bury them somewhere?"

__

Yes.

Frustrated, Beryl fought the urge to scream. "What about the Star Kingdom? They'll be missed. And the others? Their disappearance will be noted-"

__

The others' worlds will erupt in chaos as the war begins. The Star Kingdom is currently in the same state. Do not worry. The King has already left for his Kingdom. None of the Stars remain except these.

Beryl smiled. "If the God of Time wanted to stop me, he ended up helping me."

__

Go now, the Generals have turned. The war is soon.

Beryl waved the frozen bodies away to a place on Earth and teleported to her waiting armies. Less then an hour later, she struck at the Moon Kingdom, ending the truly peaceful times of the Silver Millennium.

What she didn't know was that while she attacked and Serne wailed in her dungeon, those trapped by the God of Time dreamed of a world all too real…

-------------------------------

R/R

You like it? Sorry if I got some facts mixed up. =) p.s. someone told me to change my name to 'Black Rebellious.' So I did. Did you like the old one better?


	10. Chapter 9

papers

---------------------------------------

Disclaimer:....oh yeah.... I really don't own this stuff, just the story idea.

---------------------------------------

Puppet Master

Chapter 9

Philip and Sydin bowed low before their queen, hair falling down and shadowing their paled faces. Their queen's anger was great today, overwhelming to be near. Sydin watched beads of sweat run down his long hair, forming a liquid puddle on the floor. He winced as another drop fell to the floor, the plopping noise echoing through the heated area.

He could feel Philip's eyes glaring at him but ignored it, the human had become distant lately, ever since the boy Heero had come. Sydin suspected some sort of treachery was going on but held his peace. Serne's wraith would fall on them both if such a thing were discovered.

"Where is he?" Serne's voice cut in, her anger and frustration letting loose. Her shadowy figure stalked the length of the pond stiffly. She stopped and focused on Philip. "You were supposed to be with him."

"Queen Serne, Heero was informed of his duty to destroy the Sailor Scouts and has set out to do so. Starting with the Inners," Philip added, knowing it would please her. He shivered slightly, glad at his ability to keep the panic he felt out of his voice. 

"Why did you not inform me? Never mind. Get out now."

"My Queen," the brothers intoned respectfully and turned to go. Serne watched until she was sure they were gone before allowing the smug smile she held back to surface. "So, my pet had already started? It won't be long now until I'm freed with none to oppose me." 

She called up the images of the Sailor Scouts as her energy allowed and watched the life fires burn in her vision. Such a power, to see her enemies as she pleased, served its uses many times as it also found those who held tremendous powers in hand.

Red fire burned with the adrenaline of new leadership. Serne gazed into the frozen image of the Princess of Mars's face. Concern for the lost Moon princess and an overwhelming responsibility for the well being of her friends now under her command showed in the stressed expression, a gleeful turn of events for Serne.

A deep, blue fire flickered beside it, unnaturally blue, the color of the deep seas. Mercury's princess posed with her faithful computer but the watery water revealed the emotional tumult the quiet one was in. Uncertain of whether the Mars Princess was a capable leader and a shame still fresh from the Outers' words now being covered by a new will to fight.

Yellow flames tickled cheerfully, bragging of the princess of Venus's unquenchable mirth. The princess smiled in the face of adversity but even then held back the gloomy side from the world. The yellow flames were tinted with the slightest gray, a sign of future depression if it was not in place already. Serne grinned maliciously at this. That the one who held the others' spirits up when they mourned the loss of the Moon's joyous nature was about to break under the strain.

The last candle was already beginning to separate from the others. A rich green blaze bragging of Jupiter's strength flickered against inner surrender to doubt and loneliness. Jupiter had always been unnaturally ferocious when compared to the more peaceful planets nearby, marking them as different and therefore avoided by most. It seemed that not even the princess could escape that solitary life. She was falling back into its habit without the Moon's presence to draw her out of her protective shell. Another bonus for Serne's side.

Nearby but completely separate from the burning candles was another group of lights, strengthened by years but weakened by the lack of numbers, trust and security the Inners had. The Outers stood together but only when need arose.

The two flames of Uranus and Neptune, orange and turquoise fires intertwined together to form a bond stronger then any other but they could only stand against so strong a gust before falling without help from the Moon or her Scouts. Even then, the pair was too proud to accept the needed help without being beaten into submission. Such an alliance would eventually fall beneath enemy forces. The two would likely accept defeat at the hands of enemies before help at the hands of friends. Air and water could rarely combine to form a significant fighting team and the only thing keeping them stronger then their planetary rivals was the years they spent in training.

Separate but standing beside the two, a single, dark green flame glowed. It burned with a hidden potency and raw energy flowed in a winding pattern. Serne frowned. Usually, Pluto's Princess was seen to mess with the flow of time, ejecting herself whenever she saw fit. Her power to direct the flow of time seemed to be lying dormant. Did the princess seal herself in this time? Was such a thing possible?

The question killed itself as five more life firs appeared beside the three Outers. Five?

Four were grouped together and held a distinct distrust of the Outers. They glowed with the colors of some of the Scouts' homes- dark blue for Mercury, burning red for Mars, the forest green of Jupiter and...

Purple? Saturn?

The lights were darker then the princesses' but...Saturn had none others of its own!

Serne glared into the four young _male_ faces that blurred into the flames. A peaceful looking blonde male; a taller, brown haired teen who's hair covered one eyes from view; black hair slicked down into a pony with pale, white skin and dark onyx eyes separated another; the last showed a cheerful, braided teen with a mischief look about him. Saturn's color. Who were these warriors?

The last fire shined with pure silver, the Moon's chosen color. Serne hissed. So, the brat had joined them already? No matter. These things were of no consequence to what truly mattered.

Serne forced the visions away and called upon the four flames that concerned her most.

A fire of dark gray shot into existence. Sydin. Dark elf and still loyal follower. She dismissed him.

Another of lighter gray appeared, its flames licking the air greedily. Serne frowned slightly at this. Philip's darker hue was loosing itself. Betrayal? Possible and all too likely. A twisted grin settled on her face. But with his betrayal come the torture she'd inflict as punishment...and it had been some time since she'd felt someone scream race down her spine. Philip would satisfy that urge.

Saturn's dimming light was fast changing from destructive purple to the darkest of black. The princess wouldn't resist the change for much longer, a thrilling thought. Without the constant support from her friends, Hotaru's previous feelings of loneliness and abandon would seep into the girl's bones, intensifying doubt and waver the child's resolve. Such a powerful ally would give her the winning hand.

Speaking of which...

Serne turned her pale face to the last of the flames and the greatest in her view. It could hardly be seen, the darkest flame of night. Occasionally, the blackness would shudder and a chill of white light streaked down the flame before the darkness covered it up. Heero was hers without a doubt. The icy fire his life flame gave off was enough proof of the change he underwent though the white light concerned her. Where did the light come from?

------------------

Heero carefully placed the magic that would allow him easy transportation from this place before sneaking out of the temple. Things were getting in place.

Ray came back into the room a moment later, forgetting exactly what she wanted. She could barely remember something about someone being in this room…Shrugging, she shut the door and left, never noticing the enchanting feeling the room now gave off.

------------------

Hotaru woke up somewhere she'd never been before. All around her, dirty children were running around and playing in the dirt. One particularly dirty child walked up to her, examining her and leaning close. His breath stank badly, so much that Hotaru coughed at the scent. Dressed in rags that looked like they were soaked in mud and a backward hat, he held himself with the easy and lethal confidence every street kid had.

"So, who are ya?"

Hotaru jumped at his voice and, blushing, replied as calmly as she could, "My-my name's Hotaru and..."

"Yeah?" he sneered, wiping a runny nose with the back of his hand. "Well, 'Ru, you've gone and got on my terri'try. And without my permission. What'cha gonna do to make it up to me?"

"I-I didn't know. I was just sleeping and-"

"I'm Snipe and I own this street." Snipe turned and spit, the saliva slamming on the ground with a sickening sound. He motioned to all the kids around him. "They all now that. They belong to me. You're on my street so now you belong to me."

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't' know. Honest!" Hotaru protested, noticing for the first time how old the kids were. Most were probably 16 or so but so starved and dirty, they looked years younger. A sudden throbbing for some warm food filled her but she dared not ask for anything. Standing on wobbling knees, she started to leave.

"Where ya goin', 'Ru?" the kid called after her with a malicious tone.

"I-I'm going to my home-"

"I didn't say you could go anywhere," he interrupted, standing lazily and moving towards her with slow, frightening motions. He grinned deviously at her frightened looks. The other kids caught wind of his voice and most ran away, their eyes wide with fear. Three or four of the bigger ones grinned and shared hungry looks. They gathered around Hotaru, sending out shouts and leered at her body. For the first time, she realized how raggedy her clothing had become. After running from the Outers, she'd lost all sense of direction and had fallen asleep in the black night. 

Hotaru swore at her lack of foresight, ignoring the hunger that had now become painful throbs in her belly. As the guys drew closer, the pains became greater until she was on her knees, clutching at her waist and holding back whimpers of pain.

"What's wrong, 'Ru? Ya sick or something?" Snipe asked, disgust in his voice. He shook his head. "We can't allow any sick'uns here. Too bad. I was gonna have some fun with ya."

"But Snipe!" one of the boys complained, "She can't be all that sick. I mean...can we just-"

"No!" Snipe yelled, "If any of us get sick, everyone might get sick an' we'll all die an' then what? See, ya gotta have a brain and think 'bout this stuff."

"That's why you da leader!" another kid replied enthusiastically. He was rewarded by Snipe's grim nod.

"But boss," the first kept on complaining, "what it she's actin' or somethin'?"

Snipe shrugged. "Don't matter. We can't even let an _actin'_ sick person get us sick. Now get off an' take care of it Shark. "

"Alright," the 'Shark' pouted but reached for Hotaru. "Sorry but ya heard 'im."

"Wh-where am I going?" Hotaru asked, shying away from his hand. Inside the pain died away, as though it was waiting for his response as well.

He smiled. "Where all the rejects go." The boy next to him snickered and made a cutting motion across his neck. They all laughed and Hotaru bit back a scream.

Her shining star crystal shimmered a moment and was replaced by a single, broken glass shard. Hotaru let out a cry as the spirit of Sailor Saturn appeared from nowhere. The long, threatening Silence Glaive was gripped firmly by two, white gloved hands, its deadly edge shining fatally with eagerness for blood. Hotaru shivered as its blood lust touched her mind. The background faded into chaotic purple swirls and symbols Hotaru once knew. Knee-high purple heeled boots, laced by leathery straps and decorated by a thin purple bow covered her slender legs. Her outfit, a white suit with a small purple skirt and purple shoulder pieces, glistened against the disarrayed environment, as though she wasn't fully there. Dark, crimson ribbons bloomed at her chest and lower back. On her A nine-pointed star sparkled between her decorated chest and on the purple choker on the warrior's neck. Straight black hair fell chin length, veiling the golden tiara on her forehead and concealing the draped crystal earrings. Her pale skin outlined glistening purple orbs and gleeful pink lips.

__

Princess, the warrior commented dryly, _are you all right?_

"Who are you?" Hotaru whispered frightfully.

The warrior smiled. _I'm the warrior of death, Sailor Saturn._

"No! You can't be!" Hotaru protested, "I'm Sailor Saturn!"

__

If you insist, Sailor Saturn shrugged. _I am really nothing more then your subconscious. I am you, in a sense. The part that doesn't want you to get hurt._

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked. She glanced at the environment. A multi-pointed star whirled by, leaving a trail of disorder in its wake. Coded messages glazing golden pierced the sky at odd intervals and everywhere, patters of noise and blackness lingered. "Where am I?"

__

Again, I am your psyche, the part of you that understands everything you do except that I can understand more. While you are continually battling the mortal woes of this world, I'm seeing everything you see only a glimpse of, things you don't consciously register but that I do. And this she motioned to the purplish-black spirals around them, _is Saturn. It was not usually this bad but when you and your brother left, when we were attacked by the Dark Kingdom without protectors, when the guardians protecting against the chaos that Saturn ruled were destroyed, this is what happened. _Sailor Saturn gasped, clutching at her chest. _And now, it will be worse,_ she added, gasping for breath. _They attack_.

"Who are you talking about?" Hotaru asked but was never answered.

The crystals over her heart and on her neck exploded, sending bits of crystal into the air. Hotaru shrieked and covered her eyes. A bright light illuminated the area a moment and dulled immediately as darkness came from everywhere, hungrily consuming its opposite. Sailor Saturn shivered on the ground, still clutching at her chest.

Hotaru ventured forward uncertainly and placed a hand on her shadow's shoulder. Sailor Saturn looked up. All that was left of the crystals was a single shard. Bloody paths ran from the explosion's mark and blood dripped from her chin. The once-white suit turned black and the Scout hissed. _So, they think to attack me now, while I am at my weakest!_ Her chilling voice seethed, eyes narrowing in pain and hate. _They shan't get away with it!_ The Scout of Destruction turned and ran off into the darkness as a laughing voice cracked in the air. Hotaru screamed as pain filled her body and barely noticed as Saturn's heavens shuddered and faded away.

She was on the ground of the street, screaming at the top of her lungs, body curled up in a circle and shaking as agony racked her body. The teen boys were still circled around her, arguing vehemently and behind them, scared eyes of little children gazed at her with wonder. Streams of tears ran down their cheeks and a few were hiccuping fitfully. Hotaru sat up slowly, blinking several times and stared at them, face blank and body motionless.

"I swear I didn't do anything!" Shark yelled. "She jus' fell and screamed!"

"I tell ya, over an' over again. Not in front of them kids." Snipe replied calmly, swinging a fist at Shark. "If they're scared, nobody'll wan'em 'cause they'll keep crying an' if nobody wants 'em, I get no money!" The fist slammed into Shark's face, sending the kid flying down the street.

"Boss! Boss! She's up!" another teen cried out, pointing at Hotaru's prone body with glee. Snipe spit towards Shark and walked towards Hotaru.

"What'dja think ya be pullin'?" he demanded, kicking her in the side. Hotaru withered away but continued staring at him. Snipe stared back a minute before breaking eye contact and grabbing her gracelessly, dragging her away. "I'll take care of her myself," he called over his shoulder, "get them kids back in their places."

As his followers ran to do his orders, Snipe pulled Hotaru into a dark alley. Checking to make sure no one was watching, her pulled out a switchblade and turned towards the girl.

Hotaru watched him walking towards him and stood slowly. She gave him a moment's pause before bowing her head and smiling. Her black hair fell across her face and she began laughing. Her hand clutched the broken crystal tightly, so tight that her grip went white and blood tinged her pale skin.

Snipe drew back a moment before moving forward with a quick motion. He gave a war cry and slicked the air before her.

Hotaru looked up the instant the blade would hit and eyes narrowed the slightest.

Snipe smiled wickedly as the blade connected to something but his grin faltered as the hit rang out with a metallic sound. Before him the small, weak 'Ru was no longer there. 

A powerful looking girl his age, her form flickering in the dark, held a long, metal pole, blocking his blow effortlessly. He cursed and leaped back. She looked like the Sailor Scouts! Except...a tight, black material covered her body, topped by purple borders at the neck and a low purple skirt. Black material flowered at her arms like soft wings and blood-like fabric had been done into ribbons at her chest and back. The same purple colored heeled boots laced up to just below her knees, topped by thin purple ribbons and the pole she held was taller then herself. Its silvery edge was sharpened so that it glinted murderously in the dim light. Midnight black hair, chopped short at her chin, hung around her head like a shroud and a deep yellow tiara graced her forehead. A single band of purple circled her neck, forming a choker. A single crystal piece hug suspended in the air before her chest. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes as the piece floated towards her, enveloping it into her body. It appeared again on her chest and the choker band, two single pieces hanging from her ears. The crystal glowed and darkened to a deep purple, replenishing itself into a full star. Softly glowing dark eyes gazed at him beneath the veil of black hair. 

Snipe let out a terrified squeal, not caring what the others thought of him, and shot from the alley. His blade dropped forgotten on the floor. Saturn walked gracefully towards it, leaning over to pick it up. She smiled as she flicked it shut. Gripping on the Silence Glaive, she soothed its ruthless attitude, promising it fresh blood that night, and began to trail after the boy. She had to return his forgotten item.

When she turned a corner, Snipe was being circled by his band of henchmen, all of them murmuring concernedly as he breathed heavily. His back was hunched over, shoulders trembling.

"What's he talking about, a demoness?"

"What happened to that girl?"

"He probably took care of her. But why's he so scared?"

The sun's light had long gone out and it was dark enough for torches to be lit. Four of them burned merrily from the hands of the boys. Saturn walked calmly towards them, silent as the night. They didn't hear her come up until she whispered airily into the ears of one boy, "I think this is his?"

Snipe shot up from his squatting at the sound of her voice. His followers stumbled out of the way as he screamed again and took off. Saturn watched his fleeing body a moment before her hand flicked up. In a motion almost too fast to be seen, she threw something after the retreating body. Everyone stared in shock as an inhuman howl came from Snipe's mouth before being cut off abruptly. His blade had imbedded itself in the back of his skull. Gore oozed into the street and the teens watched in dumb daze as their leader died before them.

Saturn coddled her Glaive and turned on the rest.

Screams of pain and blind terror issued themselves throughout the night. None were safe from her wraith.

Strange as it was, as Sailor Saturn walked away from the bloody carnage she'd wreaked, the strange hunger pains she'd experienced had gone away the instant hot blood sizzled against her skin.

-------------------

Darien ignored the talk of the day as he browsed through the store's food section. His right hand was tightly bandaged from the incident, a sharp reminder of the 'vision' he'd seen. He'd spent the entire day pondering the question of what had happened. His still shattered window and bleeding hand were proof that someone had shot an arrow at him. A vague remembrance of the Outers saying something about a new enemy sprang to mind.

"Darien, what happened?"

Andrew juggled some of the dairy products he was carrying until they were piled neatly on the floor and he stepped forward to talk to his friend.

Darien offered a phony smile and gestured to his bandaged hand. "What, you mean this? Oh, I was cooking with...Lita and I cut my hand."

"That's too bad. Say, where is Lita? And Serena, for that matter? Isn't she always hanging on you?"

Darien forced a chuckle. "No, she staying at Ray's temple with the girls. I don't want her to see my hand until it gets better."

"Oh, well, need any help?" Andrew asked, picking up his groceries again.

Darien waved the help away. "Hey, I just cut myself ok? I'm not disabled or something." Andrew smiled and waved. "Bye."

"Lies never solve anything," someone said. "They only cause more trouble later on."

"What?" Darien turned but saw no one except an old lady at the end of the isle. Scratching his head, he shrugged and continued searching for something to eat.

A tall, dark haired person walked by, shoving Darien into a counter. "Hey, watch where you're going!" Darien complained, shaking a fist at the person's back.

The guy turned around. Dark blue orbs met dark green. The guy glared at Darien. "Are you talking to me?"

That voice! It was the same that just...As he continued glaring, Darien shivered. "Yea, you just shoved me into a counter."

The guy shrugged and continued walking, occasionally stopping to pick up a bag of chocolate or equally appealing item. Darien watched as he placed all the treats in a bag and walked from the store, not paying or even glancing towards the cashier. A guard noticed and was about to protest when the guy stared at him, chilling both the guard and Darien. The guy then walked from view. The guard shivered and glared at gazing customers, sending their wondering looks away.

Darien quickly finished his shopping and left the store, paying before he did so. He walked down the street and passed by an electronics store. Dozens of televisions provided different channels for the admiring public, each showing how good their broadcasting receiver was, how lifelike their images were and how cheap their prices were.

A nearby TV roared to life. "This just in," a smiling reporter informed the watching public. Her statement was repeated a dozen times as each television changed over to the channel. She cleared her throat and whispered, "Am I on?" She must have received some affirming sign because her smile instantly became brighter, back straighter and position more rigid. "As I was saying, just a few minutes ago, here on Malaysia Avenue," she gestured to a dark street being lit by dozens of reporters and journalists' lights, "a terrible tragedy occurred."

An uniformed officer passed by in the background and the reporter hurried to catch up with him. "Officer! Officer! Can you please tell the waiting people what just happened?"

Darien shook his head, walking away. Probably some stupid story on how some kids were threatening to kill themselves. Nothing that would concern him. The officer on the screen cleared his throat. "Well, Miss..."

"Jennifer Court," she supplied.

"Miss Court...I don't know what to say-"

"Start from the beginning," she advised.

He nodded and motioned to the street behind him. "Less then 15 minutes ago, there was a terrible screaming from back yonder. Horrible cries that I'll never forget. We got here as fast as we could. This street is where abandoned orphans old enough to live on their own usually come and stay so we immediately thought something was being done to them. We rushed here but it was too late. As we got here, this _girl_ walk out of the street, carrying this...thing, I don't know what to call it. She smiled at us, wearing nothing but some dinky clothing, and walked away. The children...the children-"

"How many causalities, officer?" Jennifer questioned, eyes eating up the story and processing the information into a summarized version for the morning news.

"There were..." The officer trailed off, gazing into the distance. "Too many."

Jennifer frowned, clearly not liking that answer. "Sir, about how many children live in this street?"

"Over two hundred.

"And how many survived?"

He paused in sad reflection before muttering, "None," and walking away.

-------------------

Trieze sat in a room surrounded by blubbering buffoons. Everything was white in the room. Ivory tables, gleaming white walls and bone ashen chairs. Even a white plated mirror hung from a single white nail on the wall. It would have been obsessive to any others but for him, King Trieze of the Sea European Empire, it was normal and even considered his signature. He was the emperor of all of Western Europe, having conquered it not long ago just after the people celebrated the New Year of 2250, a year with new technology and great space advances. Soon, within the year hopefully, the first working Space Colony would be working. Trieze massaged his chin with a thumb. The colony should be celebrated and the year system currently used, the AD and BC calendars, were getting too old. Changing it would boast morale and give him a greater name in history then he currently had.

He glanced towards the mirror. The stately appearance he knew so well glanced back. A gracefully plain white, button-down shirt, half covered in medals and decorations, covered his chest. The other half of the shirt was hidden beneath a navy blue coat in a style not seen for centuries. Black pants and black boots were clean as always. The fanatical behavior he had for cleanliness had sprung from the sight of first blood. It felt as though he'd never be rid of the blood that had splattered his hands years ago during an accidental swordsmanship practice. Even now, the sticky feeling still textured his hands along with the rusty smell...

"King Trieze, don't you agree?"

Trieze side glanced them, racking his mind for the conversation. They had been speaking of..."When you asked me that question, which answer do you wish me to answer to?"

"Sir?"

"Are you asking whether I agree to the fact that, though we've encountered great scientific leaps, the amount of science is painfully low? Or am I answering to the question of whether soldiers will accept greater scientific standards?"

The man who'd asked the question, a fat and balding fellow, gulped noisily and stammered, "I-I guess I'm as-asking both questions. Sir."

Trieze hummed quietly, thinking quickly. "The answer to both questions, gentlemen, is yes. Science is needed to advance battles and the soldiers will understand that. However, you must consider that some soldiers will rebel against the fact."

__

Trieze

The men went back to another pointless discussion, leaving Trieze alone with his thoughts once more. Trieze blinked, the only visible sign that he'd heard something unusual, and slowly gazed at the mirror. How simple everything looked to plain eyes. Inner battles hid from sight and hidden whims are nothing more then lines on a person's face. In the mirror...

Trieze squinted slightly. He looked back around the room and into the mirror. There was a boy in the mirror!

Trieze snapped to his feet, startling the discussion.

"King Trieze, is something...wrong?" the fat man asked nervously, yes darting back and forth for the cause of the king's disturbance.

The boy looked hauntingly familiar. Dark brown hair falling in messy tresses just above his shoulders and dark blue eyes glowed at him. There was something about his stance, the way he held himself, the dark feeling the boy practically emitted. A dark cloak covered his body but Trieze didn't have to see the muscles hiding from view to know that they were there. Black, black as the chaotic space, filled everything in the mirror as the white reflection gave a shudder and fell away, surrendering to the boy's power.

"King Trieze? King Trieze!"

Trieze was barely aware of the panicked faces around him, focused only on the youth in the mirror. As if he knew this, the boy calmly stepped from the mirror and into the real world. Startled and frightened shrieks came from the men around Trieze and rapid footfalls sounded, running away from the white room. Somewhere far away and distant, an alarm pounded mercilessly through the halls.

The boy bowed low. "King Trieze."

"You know me?" Trieze questioned, trying to control his own fear. What demon was this, to have corrupted a reflection and to step from mirrors?

A brief, ironic smile. "I know of you, I even know you better then you currently do."

"What do you mean, talking in riddles?" Trieze demanded.

"I knew who you were. Now is nothing more then another of the many lives you've lead."

Trieze blinked at this and remained still.

The boy straightened his head. "You've left your Queen in the last life. She's still trying to stay with your death weighing her down. So many things are that much clearer now that I understand."

"Understand? What queen?"

"You, in all your previous- and perhaps future- lives have always had your Queen by your side. You latest life ended by an unfortunate quirk of fate and you two were separated." The boy smiled darkly. "I am Heero."

"Heero?" Trieze recognized the name from a faded memory. Something about a young boy and four others, their faces blurred in his mind.

Nodding, the boy motioned with his hand. "If you wish to help your people- your true people, King Trieze- come with me."

-------------------

"Relena, please, this will only take a moment," Lady Une protested against the fastly shutting, hidden door to Relena's apartments. Dressed in her usual brown uniform, the lady had her hair done up in two familiar buns and a thin wire frame held the glasses over her petite nose. "It is extremely important that you see these documents!" About a dozen Preventers filled the hallway behind her, talking quietly and watching in all directions for any manner of threat.

"And I have just as extreme matters that have been waiting for my attention for the past week, Lady. I'm sorry but I'm just too busy," Relena replied, heartlessly slamming the door in her advisor's face.

"Miss Relena!" Une's muffled and frustrated voice came through the door.

"Calm down, this will only take a second," Zechs chided, coming up behind the Lady.

Une whirled in surprise. "Relena cancelled all her meeting today to see _you?_" Une questioned, shocked.

Zechs smirked and brushed past her, knocking on the door-that-looked-like-a-wall. "Relena, it's Zechs."

"Milliardo! How are you?" Relena asked courteously, opening the door as though she was at the front of her home instead of the door to a hidden suite in the middle of Preventer Headquarters. She curtsied and widened the door to allow him entry. "How has you vacation been?"

Zechs smiled bitterly. "At the moment, I prefer Mars' silence then the noise of this place."

Relena waved his complaint away. "You've been living in space for too long brother. It's been almost six months since your last transmission and nearly a year since you last came to re-supply. We were deeply worried for you. Is Noin well?"

Zechs was about to answer when Une cut in, her severe face tightened into a scrowl. "Relena, please. If Preventer Wind is only here for a visit, then you wait for another time. Things have been chaotic since the pilots' disappearance-"

"Which is what we're here for," Noin broke in, walking silently up the hallway. The Preventers had moved out of the way for her, her reputation and respect as a teacher during OZ's rule not yet lost. She gave them a worried glance. "Une, you've got to get these agents out of the hall. They're like an arrow for anyone who wants to know where Relena is and anyone at all can sneak into these halls with them as a distraction."

"You underestimate these agents, " Une frowned deeply but ordered her shadows away. As the hall cleared, everyone stepped into Relena's room. "What exactly do you know of the pilots' disappearance," Une asked the two of the top ranking officials in the Preventer Agency.

"Well," Noin began, "we-"

"Are you sure this room's secure?" Zechs questioned, a concentrating look on his face.

"Of course," Une replied, anger lying beneath her tone. "This is the most secure area of the building. We check it daily for bugs, implanted materials and unwanted items. We know how important Relena's safety is."

Zechs nodded but his concerned expression and the way he walked around the chamber, searching for something, insured silence for the next few minutes.

Noin finally sighed wearily and asked, "Zechs, what are you doing?"

"Shh," he silenced, creeping towards the door.

Three feminine voices carried lightly through the wall:

"Are you sure it's this one?"

"Of course I am! I-"

"Shhh! Quiet! They'll hear us!" Silence, then: "They've stopped talking!"

"Shit!"

Zechs smiled knowingly and motioned for Noin to continue. She cleared her throat, eyeing the room with confusion. "Well, like I was saying...Relena called us to tell us that-"

Zechs whipped the door open, causing two individuals to fall to the floor. They lied on the floor, shocked, a moment before leaping to their feet. "Mr-Mr. Milliardo, sir...How are you?" Hilde asked cheerfully, fidgeting nervously. When she saw his stern expression, her face fell. Beside her, a mop of red curls glared but said nothing.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything?" Dorothy asked lightly, stepping into the room behind the two. Her blonde-white hair fell about her in a blanket-like motion. "We just thought it fair to be included in such a delicate conversation."

"What are you talking about?" Une asked, going red in the face.

"Well, " Dorothy explained patiently. She motioned to Hilde, who blushed fiercely. "We happened to be in the Security Room and heard you mention something about the Gundam pilots. And since we have such heavy connections with them, we knew you wouldn't mind having us here to join in this conversation. You don't mind, of course, Miss Relena?"

Relena sighed and nodded forlornly. Lady Une stared at them ignorantly. "What exactly were you doing in the Security Room? I assure you that no one goes in there unnoticed."

Hilde blushed deeper and Dorothy sighed wearily, as though she were explaining to a child. "Lady Une, the reason we were able to enter you Security Control Room was because security, for the most part, is currently down. We knew the other Preventers wouldn't give us access to this secured area so we were forced to improvise."

Zechs widened his eyes appreciatively. He looked at the furious Hilde. "I thought only Heero could get by security so easily." Une's enraged look went by ignored.

Hilde shrugged. "He is. It took me nearly a day to even begin to hack into the system. It took me over a month to set it up so that I can enter it at will. And the only reason we knew where the panel was is because of all the Preventers blocking the halls."

Une blushed and sputtered angrily.

-------------------

Heero woke up and ignored the stitches of pain running through his body. Trieze was now awake. He glanced around him, stuck in some empty but enormous apartment. In the hall, a young brown haired girl was just entering the apartment a few doors down, her face free of the dozens of worries that plagued Heero. Shaking them away, he started to leave. They were both safe now. Trieze would protect her while Heero was gone. He'd stay here while Trieze finished a few items of business. As for the others...

Duo's laugh echoed through the walls. Heero smiled. The others could sleep a while longer. A brown bag of candy lay on the floor, remains of a trip to the store not too long ago. Darien's face was burned into Heero's memory as well as the fact that no matter what, the Princess belonged to him. He gazed at the bag of candy dejectedly. The only reason he entered the store was to see if the Prince was all right and he needed the candy as an excuse for his being there. The fact that he'd seen Serena buying the same candy before had nothing to do with it.

Nothing. The Prince and Princess belong with each other. Heero closed his eyes and tried to remember the mission. His feelings could jeopardize the mission. His eyes hardened and doubt left.

__

but still, Astral whispered softy, his flittering spirit visible to only Heero's eyes, _would love really be that bad?_

-------------------

Rachael glanced around the hallway. She could've sworn someone was watching her. Shrugging, she entered the room after the teary eyed Serena and shut the door behind her. A moment later, another door clicked shut after her.

-------------------

Time passed and Serne looked up at the full moon watching over her prison. A symbol, she thought darkly, of the Kingdom who captured and threw me in here. The moon's silverish light gave everything a misted view, casting light on an otherwise dark night. And the stars twinkling far above...

The stars...

Serne gaped at them in open horror as their white light shined dimly in the black night, understanding hitting her like a pile of bricks. The weak light looking fragile when compared to the jarring silver moon but whose light traveled from an origin far stronger then any suspected.

The stars' white light... Heero's white light... Panic, endless streams of horror filled her every core.

How could it be? Heero was from another world. He couldn't be of the Star's. The thought chilled her and her covered shoulders trembled with fear.

But nothing else could have the Star's pure white.

The fullness of the situation hit her head on.

Heero was of the Star Kingdom. She'd tried to convert the Star's own. Memories of the Kingdom's dealings with the distant Stars filled her brain. The peaceful exterior hiding the Star's awesome powers. Tales told to her by fear-ridden traders of the Star's swift and destructive vengeance. Tales where far off kingdoms were totally destroyed with only a dozen of the Star's warriors, the universe's best fighters. The kingdom known for their patience and fair judgement-but once that judgement was passed, it was never revoked. The Star Kingdom followed through with its plans mercilessly and was not known for their compassion, especially if one of their own were at stake.

She'd tried to alter one of _that_ Kingdom's. For the first time in her life, Serne felt the cold breath of panic running down her spine.

What would happen if they found out?

As she thought, a new flame began to burn feebly in the background, Rachael's smiling face darkened by shadows.

-------------------

Trieze awoke in a cold room, back sore from sleeping on chilly wood. He distastefully stood up, brushing off whatever dirt might have collected on his suit, real or imagined. He was wearing a tuxedo that was completely white. Dark blue tinted some parts of the suit but it was, for the most part, a silken milky ivory color. Quickly assessing his appearance in a mirror, Trieze hand-brushed his hair and straightened his clothing.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" Heero asked, leaning against the doorway. Trieze ignored him for the moment and glanced about the room. Except for a frail-looking cot and the mirror he was looking in, the room was totally bare. Heero noticed his inspection and nodded. "There isn't too much because it's only temporary."

"How long have I slept?" Trieze asked finally, placing a hand on his hip.

"In this world, you've slept less then an hour."

"And the other?" Trieze prodded.

Heero shrugged. "I don't know but since it's only an illusion, you could go back to the second you 'died' or a hundred years after. Or before. time flows as you want it to there, once you accept the fact that it's an fantasy."

Trieze nodded, accepting the information as reality without a second thought. "And the others?"

"They can either sleep on forever or be awakened."

"Which is better?" Heero questioned, head slightly tilted to the side, as though he were listening to someone.

"For who? You, or them?"

"Them," Trieze replied without a second's hesitation.

Heero smiled secretly, blowing Trieze away. "I knew you would say that. And it would be a torture for them to live like that. Everyone was placed in that dreamlike state for over a millennia, our subconscious's have grown dependant on each other. if someone as important as yourself were suddenly removed from that chain, the others would live out unhappy, meaningless lives."

"Isn't…that what they're doing now?" Trieze asked hesitantly, still staring at the emotionless boy. True, the smile was there only a second and it wasn't very large but, never before had he ever seen Heero Yuy smile.

Heero shook his head. "Now, they are living as they want to live. They are exploring the reaches of their minds and experiencing things as they want. After this life, with the Gundam pilots and yourself gone, they won't experience anything like it and slowly withdraw into themselves and never come out."

"What am I, to be so important?"

"I can't tell you that," Heero replied in his traditional monotone. "But you'll find out soon enough. And don't be surprised if you find that you can do certain items without explanation. In the meantime, I have to do some work. I need you to start training these girls," he handed Trieze a picture of the Inner Scouts, "until I can do it myself."

"Where?"

"There's an old abandoned building in the middle of a nearby forest. I suggest you spend today getting familiar to this place and find them tomorrow. When you do all you need is to press this," and a small remote control was passed into Trieze's hands, "and imagine yourself near the building they'll be trained at." Trieze gave Heero a skeptical look but pocketed the device. "You'll need to be at the temple the girls are currently staying at for it to work."

"Is that all?" Trieze asked. Heero nodded sharply and left the room.

The next day, Trieze was walking pass a temple when one of the girls he was suppose to be training walked up the stairs to sprawling temple grounds. She walked with a drifting attention, mostly focused on her inner thoughts. Trieze looked at her and followed silently. Up the stairs she went, her short blue hair tossing in the wind. 

Trieze nodded as he saw her entering a door, catching a glimpse of the other three in the room behind her. Without another thought, he put them to sleep. Remembering Heero's warning about things happening 'magically,' he set out to do what was required. Stepping into the shrine- and gracefully throwing out the sleeping bodies of an old man and an older teen-age boy - Trieze pressed the button on the device. For a moment, it felt as though something was moving but the feeling stopped abruptly. Trieze waited a moment longer. Nothing happened.

Stepping outside, he found himself in the center of a huge gym. Black walls surrounded him on all sides. And the shrine looked extremely out of place. It had worked after all.

-------------------

Darien sat in his room, forehead beaded with sweat. How long had it been?

__

Not too long, a mocking voice informed him. Darien shot to his feet, looking for its source. _Probably only a few minutes._

"Who's there?" he demanded, reaching in to grab hold of his transforming pen. His fingers clenched together as his muscles throbbed, a spasm forcing them to clamp together painfully. He gasped at the stinging torture. Images in his mind of him, carrying Serena to bed, her sleeping face propped up against his chest. Images of her, happily serving him and all the world bowing down to him as King of the Earth. His rightful title that Serena helped him achieve. _He saw her bowing with all the others and Ray bowing lower then the others._ _Ray's black hair shining playfully as she lay with him in bed, her body so excellently curved, even Serena could not compare. Of fires so hot that burned for him only. Serena's eyes wondered often, ignoring Darien to seek out new men. Men she thought were better. Andrew, his best friend. Alan, the alien freak. Prince Diamond, sitting on his thrown and saw the two lovers intertwined with each other, her blonde hair spilling over them, covering them as they..._

Darien blinked. He would never...not with Ray! And Serena would never do that to him. she would never betray him for an...enemy? She kissed him once, of her own free will, and many other times, while she was under his spell. The one who was his forever, _sleeping with an enemy_.

The kisses didn't count, Darien shouted to his inner self, trying to convince both that Serena would never do that. She didn't have a choice-

__

Did she? He asked himself. _If she didn't, then why did you see her, stealing a kiss just before the bastard prince died? She wasn't under his spell then, was she ever? If she can do it, she's not worthy of a King. The Mars princess is so much better._ Darien closed his eyes at the thought of Ray's body, writhing in pleasure beneath his...

As Darien grappled against his growing doubts, Serne smiled in her chamber. Brother, you are a fool. Torturing you in this fashion will be more fun then anything else I could do to you. Soon, my revenge will be complete. You should have joined me, so long ago.

-------------------

"You're powers are hereby stripped of you," he announced, voice tinted with anger. "Since you believe yourselves to be awesomely powerful with them, you will probably die during the training without them. The attitude you present tot me is one of insolence and it is not acceptable." For the last hour, the girls had been fighting him at every turn, provoking him to attack them so that they would have a reason to attack. As it was, their honor held them back- the belief that he wasn't an enemy was too strong for them to ignore. And the fact that since the leader for their group was missing, they'd lost all will to fight except in dire cases.

Mars glared at him. "You think you're so much better then us, why don't you prove that you can beat us without using _your_ powers?"

Trieze glowered back at her. "When we first met, that is exactly what I did! I defeated you by using simple tactics, knowing that asleep you could cause no harm to me and the environment. So you went to sleep-"

"You put us to sleep!"

Trieze raised a hand. "I don't know how that happened so I take no credit for it. You fell asleep and I took your home to a remote place to be trained. If you refused to accept your defeat at my hands, you will never accept defeat at the hands of your enemies. And once you do that, you'll die."

"You are our enemy!" Mars yelled back. "The Sailor Scouts never give up, never surrender. We'll never stop fighting to protect our princess!"

"This isn't about the princess," Trieze coldly stated, an inner voice feeding him information. And he suddenly knew who he was and how important these girls were. "This is about you girls. In the future, Queen Neo-Serenity depended on her Sailor Scouts to protect her without her help. How can she depend on you if you can't defeat an enemy without her?"

"You-you have no idea what the future will be like," Mars stuttered slightly, stemming the tears that threatened to fall. "The future is-"

"Never decided. You believe that the dreamy fantasy world you claim to have visited was the future. That may be true but the future will not come unless the present works for it. You will never be strong enough to hold foes at bay unless you train for it."

Mars frowned and bit back a retort. Trieze calmly took a sip of his tea and waited for her reply. Mars glanced around and sighed. "Where is the rest of my team?"

"They are in the other room, waiting for your return and your decision."

"My decision? They want me to decide whether I should trust someone who kidnaps us-"

"You are still in you temple. Your temple just happens to have moved with your persons inside."

"-and then takes away our powers, all the while claiming to be an ally and hiding his actions behind a wall of 'it's for your own good'?" Mars replied sarcastically. Shaking her head, she continued, "I can't make a decision without some sort of proof. And you haven't even offered me some."

Trieze smiled into his cup. "I have no current proof but the one who'll be training you will answer any question you have."

"The one who'll be...great. As soon as a begin to trust you, you announce that you won't even be the ones training us." Mars shook her head and detransformed. "I can't make a decision so soon."

"Nor would you want to. I've seen that there is a fire in the other room," Trieze mused carefully, staring at the girl and watching her back go rigid with shock. "It is legendary for its spiritual powers. You are more then welcome to spend anytime you wish with in the room. I've heard that it's most relaxing and, if you do spend time there, you won't be disturbed." Ray nodded slightly, walking out of the room with stiff movements. It was dark outside and as a single bird called out into the night, Trieze glanced at the shining stars surrounded by the chaos of outer space.

The next morning, Trieze entered their room as the sun arose.

"Your training begins now," Trieze stated as the four Inners awakened, detransformed and groggy. They were lying in Ray's room, still wearing the clothes from the day before and surrounded by dozens of pillows and blankets. "Within the hour, I will know your limits and press you beyond them. Within the week, you'll be stronger then ever before."

"What are you talking about?" Lita demanded, rubbing the side of her head where a soft pillow had rubbed its pattern on her face. She tried to remember where the pillow was from but sleep was too tempting to allow her brain to function properly. "What training?"

"You're leader decided last night that it was time for you to be trained by someone with great skill," Trieze continued, oblivious to the empty and blank stares he was being given. His white tuxedo's arm was momentarily ruffled as he lifted a hand and wrapped his fingers around an elegant chin, appearing to be in deep thought. "Your guardian will be allowed to come, of course, but will give you no assistance."

"How did you-"

"No questions, Artemis," Trieze interrupted. The cat tried to argue but was kicked by Mina- accidentally of course- and landed in an unconscious heap on the floor. He gave the four girls a thoughtful look. "You have three minutes to prepare yourselves. I'm being generous today but if you pass that time limit, your training will be that much harder."

Trieze left the room, his white cloak trailing as he rested above his right shoulder.

"So...what hit me?" Mina mumbled, falling back into a mountain of pillows.

"I can't think!" Amy exclaimed, also going limp against the soft, inviting pillows. She breathed in their rosy scent in bliss and wrapped a thick cotton blanket against the morning chill.

"What...time..." Lita murmured sleepily, face buried against the alluring comfort the cushions gave.

Ray yawned widely, glancing outside. "Sun's not even up," she replied, blinking a dozen times and brushing hair from her face. "Does anyone..."

"Care?" Mina filled in, her voice muffled by the pillows and comforts surrounding her. "No."

Amy shook her head with a blush of shame while Lita's light snore gave the answer of the warrior.

Ray gave them a drowsy glare and tried to hit them with a pillow but didn't let go in time. The result was her landing in a sprawl at the door, which gracefully opened and smacked her already painful bruise.

Trieze glared disdainfully at the group of lazy girls and shook his head. "I had hoped you would listen to me..."

Artemis was lifted carefully and Trieze walked from the room.

"Whatever," Mina muttered, promptly falling back to sleep.

Ray was about to agree when they suddenly found themselves in a cold, iron room. Gone were the blankets, pillows and sweet-smelling scents. The comforts that lulled the girls to sleep disappeared, leaving the girls lying on cold, metal sheets of floor.

"What the!" Ray gave the room a disbelieving stare, gripping her transforming pen as a reflex to danger. "I didn't agree to this!"

"This looks like danger," Lita muttered, all traces of sleep gone. None of them were the tinniest bit tired now that a direct threat appeared. Ray gave the place a final stare before taking out her pen. He said their powers were gone but that didn't stop her from transforming. The others followed her example and, in a flash of light, became the Sailor Scouts.

Trieze stood in the shadows, watching with a calculating but blank gaze. His attention didn't seem to be focused on anything as he let out a muffled curse. Things were moving much too fast. The Moon was found, which was good as always, but Saturn was still lost. The traces of her energy didn't look good. Heero was still one step ahead of them all. It wasn't a comforting thought, that the one enemy he had in his "life" would be the one who gave him orders but Trieze was never one to complain. At least not seriously. Instead, he thought the situation over, looking for a way to transform the situation. If only he could remember more then the quick flashes of illuminating memories.

As for the enemy...a faint and familiar aroma seemed to fill the air whenever the enemy's hand passed but his- or her- identity remained a mystery since the beginning. There wasn't enough time to do everything. On top of it all, the others needed to be awakened.

Lady Une...Trieze dropped that thought and turned to the disapproving growl of the white cat nearby.

Artemis's ears lay flattened against his head but he knew his bounds. One did not mess with the Star Kingdom's King when decisions were made. But Artemis believed himself to be of a high enough position to at least voice his complaint. "They don't need your training," the cat spat at last.

Trieze allowed a light smile at the situation- he, the King of the strongest Kingdom, was being complained to by a creature not a tenth his size. The thought of arguing with a cat went beyond most logical beliefs but it didn't stop it from happening. "Yes, but then again, you have no true idea about what we're up against. In their current condition, the Sailor Scouts wouldn't stand a chance."

Artemis growled again. "I still do not truly believe your story of being the King of a distant Kingdom but since I so not have complete memory of the Silver Millennium so you'll get the benefit of doubt. And even if you were lying, I could do nothing against you-"

"Then don't fight the matter any more. As you should be aware, if I were not who I claim, why do I wish for you to grow stronger? If I were an enemy, would logic not declare me to instead of giving you lodging and training, kill you while I have the chance? Your memory is flawed- worse then I would have wanted- and you do not remember so many things."

Artemis said nothing but tension fell of his small white body in waves.

Trieze ignored it and focused on the first problem he could tackle. The Sailor Scouts were now doing their best to find a way out and training should begin. It wouldn't be too long before Noin was awakened to replace him at this but until then...

Noin...Lady Une...Again he dropped the thought but a doubt still plagued him. As they currently believed, he was dead. What would she think, to see him again?

-------------------

Heero paused, more out of reflex then true thought. His mind was wondering again and his body had reacted out of pure instinct. After a quick glance- aided by his magic- he saw nothing and continued but kept a close watch on his surroundings. His instincts warned of battle not far off and he would not be caught off guard.

Minutes passed and thoughts rose again, forcing his attention away from the real world and deep inside himself again. Himself, as a combination of two memories. One, the life of relative comfort as the second prince Astral from the strongest Kingdom. And another as the tortured but purposeful life as Heero Yuy, Gundam Pilot and teen assassin. And while the two lives conflicted with events, his personalities and actions had been relatively similar.

Not that it was surprising. But this time...

A fist clenched hidden beneath layers of black clothing. This time, something was changed. The powers...too much power...not his power. The power he had now was destructive, pure and simple. As a prince and pilot, he'd wielded similar power but...

Never had he ever wanted to act on it.

A twig cracked, sending him leaping into cover before he realized the sound was his own.

Heero looked around. He was back in the forest. And it was night. Vaguely, Heero wondered if he shouldn't be somewhere else.

A small black cat made its way across his path, slinking derisively before him. Heero scowled and, acting on impulse, imagined the cat as much bigger. The thing was too small to be a challenge the way it was. Right now, a fight was what he wanted.

Hissing, the cat leaped away mockingly into a nearby bush.

Heero followed quietly. His powers crooned delightedly inside, instructing him on what to do. Giving him new clues on how to use the burning intensity within.

The cat was lying on a branch, bathing itself confidently when Heero spotted it.

His eyes narrowed in concentration. Imagining the cat's form bigger, its fangs longer, claws thicker. He imagined the way it would move, slinking through the forest without a sound as it stalked its prey. Imagined its sleek, black body as its muscles rippled and the sound of its voice, chilling living creatures as its cry echoed through the woods.

The cat stopped mid-lick, stretching its neck and searching vainly for the source of its unease. By the time it noticed Heero's intense eyes, blazing with concentration, it was too late.

Heero gathered his energy, forming it into a ball the size of his fist, and sent it crashing into the cat's black hide.

It let out a painful, high-pitched screech then cut off abruptly, the noise changing into a deep roar of fury. The small kitten leaped at Heero, fur standing on edge and claws outstretched. The spot Hero's energy hit it spurt out dark blood and a black mist, covering the animal and dropping it from view. It landed on the floor and Heero watched with a calculated interest, not truly caring how his experiment turned out.

The cat yowled in pain, cringing on the forest floor while trembles shook its tiny form. The mist waited a moment before converging on the cat completely. From its tiny body a demon broke through. Its skin and fur blow the neck tightened and busted as the monster's shoulder blades and lowered neck tore against the feeble resistance. Its paws twitched violently before massive claws and padded paws clawed their way through. From its torn neck, a black and muscular neck arose. Darkest black, slit eyes peered with a momentary phase at the world upon the creature's sleek forehead, long fangs gleaming in the moonlight. It blinked once, twice, before letting out an earsplitting scream. It's past body lay on the ground like a broken doll, blood splattered about in dark puddles and fur straining against a light breeze on the floor.

It was exactly as he imagined, as he wanted.

It was a beautiful creature.

Lethal eyes studied Heero as the monster stretched tight muscles and flicked its long, slim tail. The tail curled above the ground, rustling over leaves and twigs. A small creature, most likely a mouse, made the mistake of squeaking in fright. The creature flickered its ears and, with a swap of its hand, sent the thing flying. An audible crunch was heard as the small animal slammed against a tree, its tiny bones breaking on impact.

Heero gazed at it impressively. Its head was nearly chest height but its dark coat slide into the night scenery. Dark eyes reflected the moonlight and the feline animal stalked forward towards Heero.

Shaking his head, Heero froze the creature and studied it. What was originally supposed to be nothing more then something he could vent his frustration at now looked to be a close ally. Such potential shouldn't be wasted.

Heero glared at it, unfreezing its muscles and motioned it to come forward.

The cat hissed dangerously but moved until Heero told it to stop. Heero stared at it a moment more and attempted to establish a psychic connection.

Decay. Death. Destruction. Heero's eyes widened as he explored the cat's train of thought. Perversion. Abuse. Demise. Death. Destruction. Death.

"Blight," Heero whispered, naming the creature. The cat yowled but didn't break eye contact. It's eyes blazed in quieted fury but fury nonetheless. "Blight," Heero repeated in firmer tones.

The creature hissed but lowered to its belly in submission. Heero nodded approvingly and it leapt at him in blind rage.

Heero swatted its claws away in impatience. Swinging his foot, his black boot caught its chest and sent it flying into a tree. Squirrels and birds flew off in fear. The cat was on its feet but circled Heero cautiously, no longer as confident.

"Blight!" Heero said in a commanding tone. The cat winced visibly and shook as though the name had power over its very being. It probably did, Heero thought. This creature was a demon in this world. Such a thing as a name held power over the ones of that sort.. Heero stepped forward and stroked the cat's back, causing it to hiss in anger but no more.

Heero continued petting it, comforting it until the hisses and growls softened into purrs of contentment. "Listen," the cat purred loudly at his soft tone and opened its eyes lazily, showing its willingness to serve. The demon creature was bought as Heero allowed his magic to seep into its brain, changing its hate into loyalty to him and furthering its pleasure to a mind racking rapture that seared the cat's brain.

Nodding, Heero continued petting it but communicated his orders in each stroke, the magic lessening.

Find the ones called the Outers. There will be three. Follow and watch. Stay from sight of the one elf and the one who lives in these woods. Wait for my orders. Attack if attacked but do not kill. Feed on what you will.

The cat purred louder and leaped off to follow its master's orders.

As its shadow dissolved from sight, Heero turned a new eye to the forest. What could be done to a cat could be done repeatedly to change this place to his domain.

In his mind, Heero envisioned a place so dark that even shadows couldn't pierce. Creatures that feed on the night and trees that would attack invaders. He imagined the forest as a living thing and wandered until he found a small clearing. Already, the trees were enlarging, their branches beginning to cover any sunlight, reflecting it before the rays could touch the forest floor. In the clearing, Heero smiled softly and imagined a large castle, built to his needs. As the power created the building, its spiked tops piercing the sky, Heero turned and unleashed his power until the forest grew to his whim.

Black reigned supreme and animals were transformed to suit his needs. Awesome monsters woven into existence by his own making. 

Snakes with black, black scales but whose under belly was translucent enough the heart could be seen beating. 

Huge wolves transformed into slinking beasts with long snouts, dark fur and gleaming yellow eyes. They hunted in packs, feasting on whatever fell before them and ate not only the prey's meat but its feelings and memories as well.

Hawks and other birds' talons grew long and sharp, stained with blood before the night was done. Their vision was tampered with, increasing sight and perception so the birds of prey could see for miles and served as scouts or messengers to their creator. Black feathers fell about him in respect, many stained with the blood of the kill.

Huge worms just became, lurching deep below earth's surface but waiting for a creature to lie down to sleep before striking. 

The trees spent all energy growing larger branches and enormous leaves to block out the sun that their roots were drained of color, leaving with piles of bark instead of its normal brown. The leaves grew as large as a man's arm and hand, a few inches thick as well. Energy spent for their growth changed the light green leaves to a dark black in color, sinister to look at. 

Vines snaked their way around the deaden trees, given lives of its own that it could strike at any small creature moving nearby and lived by the life juices of others. 

The tinniest bugs became traders of incurable disease and dozens of other cats became like their first, Blight, roaming around for a stray meal while guarding their lands with ferocious loyalty to their master. Heero gave them extraordinary intelligence, just below a normal human's IQ. And they used every bit of it to serve him and guard him with their lives. Dozens upon dozens of more things came to life, each with normal intelligence but implanted with the deep urge to serve their creator.

As the evils creatures slithered into being and the dawn came, the darkness was so complete that no sunlight penetrated Heero's new home. 

His power coursed through every leaf, every living thing. It was incredible. The entire system had been changed to suit his needs until the animals became creatures tied to the night and weakened by light.

Heero watched from the entrance to his forest as the dawn's tingling rays touched his icy skin. Already, people were gawking at what the park had changed into and Heero enjoyed their sense of fear. It gave him a sense of...fullness. A cat's shrill scream brought back his attention and with a swish, his black cloak turned and departed. Dawn's rising rays flickered vainly after, seeking him out but failing as he ventured further and further into the empty cold of the forest.

-------------------

At the back of the forest, there was a small grove of trees surrounded by liters of dead animals and separated from everything else. Serne shivered and waited as no one came to report. Heero's presence was nearby but instead of being revitalized by the thought, she shivered greater and did her best to sink back into the hell she was trapped in. Nothing could be worse then knowing the Star Kingdom would be after her and she only hoped Heero's alteration was deep enough to distract his Kingdom long enough for her to come up with a plan of escape. 

-------------------

Trieze sighed, calling the training session to a halt. "This is going nowhere."

All around him, the Sailor Scouts were battling various figures, each composed of previous enemies. Alan and Ann taunted them from one corner, occasionally shooting out cards that exploded when they came in contact with anything; a real-life image of Prince Diamond and his Black Moon Family attacked in another; Wise Man and his infernal energy ball assaulted them mercilessly from another. And in the middle, the four Sailor Scouts breathed heavily, tired and winded. Trieze was about to say something when Heero walked in.

Heero gave Trieze a slight nod and the men walked from the room. 

"So, I'm done here?" Trieze asked.

Heero nodded. "Yes. But I need you to protect a girl named Rachael." Heero and Trieze continued walking away, discussing.

"When will the others arrive?"

"Soon."

Ten minutes later, when the Scouts were getting rested to be ready to fight once more, Heero stepped from the shadows. "I am Heero, your trainer. For now."

"Where'd Trieze go?" Jupiter asked spitefully. "Did he go to find more things to attack us with?"

"You weren't even beginning to be trained. Trieze was going easy on you. I'll give you a single chance to defeat me, if you can," Heero stated, arms crossed defiantly across his chest. "If you can't do that, you can't defeat the enemy you seek. If you can, I've underestimated you and your training will be terminated."

"We're the Sailor Scouts, we never lose!" Mars declared, ignoring the doubts plaguing her mind. 'The Sailor Scouts, but without Sailor Moon, we wouldn't never got this far.' "I told that once to Trieze and I mean it just as much now."

"Then what are you waiting for. Destroy me."

Mercury fingered her computer nervously. "Guys, I don't like this. I'm not getting any readings from him. We can't tell his strength, weakness, whatever."

Mars watched their opponent carefully. "It doesn't matter," she finally said. "We can still beat him. Last time we saw him fight, he used a sword instead of psychic or power attacks, right?"

"I guess so," Venus said from behind. A powerful wind was beginning to pick up, creating waves in the tall grass, making the meadow look like a sea of flowing green silk. There was no close protection from the raging wind- the nearest tree was several meters away. Each Scout felt the slightest tinge of fear: there was no protection or distraction if they needed to get away quickly. All or nothing.

"Come on guess, we can do this!" Mars shouted, hands folding in a pray-like motion before her forehead. "Stay as far away as you can and get the most damage from ranged attacks. Let's go! Mars Soul Bird!"

From her outstretched finger, a huge flaming bird sizzled into existence. For a moment, it looked only like a ball of screaming fire but the falcon soon outstretched its arms to its full wingspan and flew into the air.

'Great Spirit, listen to my pleads,' Ray thought, eyes closed tightly in concentration. 'Follow my thoughts, attack my enemies. Follow where I lead and consume those who would destroy the peace of this world.'

The blazing creature screeched in reply and dove against the wind towards the cloaked enemy of its summoner. As it neared, Heero lifted his eyes and gazed at the creature.

'Mother Spirit, attack not those who have done no wrong to this world,' his whispering voice called out.

Mars screamed as she heard, the pain of contacting with him for even the slightest moment too great to bear. Millions of seconds of his life flashed inside her mind, too fast to be seen but each representing one thing: pain. She fell to the ground, clutching at the sides of her head in agony. The Soul Bird and she screamed as one, the sound echoing through the empty meadow.

'Mother Spirit, depart the mortal realm and come again at my bidding,' Heero commanded, Eyes narrowed in threat. 'The Princess cannot be helped by the fiery souls of Mars.'

The bird screeched in pain and disappeared, its fiery wings turned to ashes by the wind. Embers floated around Mars in a last embrace before being swept away by the sooty winds.

"Sailor Mars!" the three Scouts shouted and rushed towards their friend. A pillar of flame surrounded her, burning away at the fleeing tears in her eyes. A moment later, she was gone.

"What did you do?" Jupiter yelled. When Heero only stood there without acknowledgement of her being, she screamed in fury and clenched her fists together. "I call upon the power of Jupiter!" she screamed. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"

The wind blew fiercely and storm clouds appeared in a breath. Thunder rolled loudly and a single bolt of lightening fell from the sky onto Jupiter's outstretched Tiara.

She held the power within a moment, savoring the intense waves of energy about to tear her body apart before screaming out, "DRAGON!"

A roar like nothing heard before rang in everyone's ears as a creature of pure electricity shot to life and blasted through the air. The air crackled in the dragon's way, bursting with Sailor Jupiter's power. It roared once, a horrifying scream of pure voltage, before rushing the enemy. Furious jaws hissed and snapped, tearing bits of the flying grass into shreds. Outstretched wings sizzled in fury and curled out to full length, swishing through the air in perfect motion. Jupiter smiled encouragement to the raging monster but it needed none. Connected to its mistress by the bounds of creation, it knew her every whim and flew to carry off the reason of its existence.

Heero didn't spare it a glance, moving only to step a minute step back when its blistering wings flew by. As it circled high above and plummeted a second time for the kill, Heero stared at it a second, his own eyes suddenly sparkling with energy, before letting the creature engulf him completely.

"Got'cha!" Jupiter yelled triumphantly.

'Don't be too sure.'

"What!" Jupiter asked, leaping back and glancing around nervously. Venus and Mercury were at her side, congratulating her on the victory and worrying about Sailor Mars when abruptly the dragon's cry could be heard again.

It shrieked in horrid pain as the connection of life between it and its maker was severed. Gathering its power, the dragon searched for a way out of the pain. Before it stood a man, the human's mind expanded so that the dragon could _feel_ him.

'Come,' said the voice. 'Join the stars, your brothers. Understand and come.'

Roaring with pain and seeing a way out, the dragon shot out into the skies, passing the heavens and soaring into the stars. For a moment, the stars twinkled in welcome and it forgot everything but the stars.

Jupiter squealed as the dragon left her, leaving the source of its life behind for the stars. It could be seen, flying higher and higher all the while slowly dying without energy to sustain it.

She turned on her heels to see the offender as shouted, tears in her eyes, "What did you do!"

Heero studied her impassively. "Freed it."

"You killed it!" she screamed as it began to fade fast from reality.

"No," Heero refused, "The moment you sent it to fight, you sentenced it to die."

"I did not-"

"If it lived the explosion meant to kill me, you would dismiss it," Heero stated and looked back towards the flying spectacle.

For a brief moment, utter and total freedom filled Jupiter's soul as the dragon reached its place in the stars and as it died, she blacked out.

"We can't fight him one-on-one," Venus whispered to Mercury as they knelt by Jupiter's body, securing it from whatever happened to Mars. Mercury merely nodded, checking Jupiter's body with her computer.

It beeped loudly and Mercury's eyes widened. "Get back," she screamed, throwing both herself and Venus back as a pillar of lightening claimed their comrade's body.

"This is our last chance! Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" Venus screamed, sending a power towards the enemy and sealing it with a kiss. Mercury nodded and added her "Shine Aqua Illusion!" attack to the golden wave. Yellow hit Heero head on, sending his cloak flying back as a wave of pure elemental ice struck, freezing whatever particles it hit.

"Did we get him?" Venus asked nervously. Victory seemed so near...

"No, but I can't tell where he-Augh!" Mercury groaned as she slumped forward to the ground.

Wind whipping her hair into a frenzy, Venus didn't have to see him to know that their enemy had won. A shock of pain hit her neck and she faded away.

"I'm sorry Princess," Heero's whispery voice murmured as her eyes closed and a golden light consumed her body.

-------------------

Author's Note:

Oh my gosh! You guys, I'm sooo sorry! For the past few weeks, I've been resricted from the internet cause I got a 'D' on my progress report. *weep* Tell me, is that a resonable punishment! It's not like I'm dazing off in class, wondering how this story will turn out- actually, that happens sometimes. See what I sacrifice for you guys! You better be happy and review and give my torn-up ego a psyche lift with happy reviews telling me how much you love this story and all that. *weep* can you imagine, I was gone for weeks! O internet, how I love thee. --by the way, thanks to all you people who've reviewed so far. I gotta go before I get caught. Don't expect me to update for like a year [or until I get to sneak back on. ;-) ]

One last thing: I tried my best. Honest. I hope none of the characters were OOC or anything. Augh! My parents are home! Gotta slice. Bye.

-black rebellious. May 2001


	11. Connections

puppet master 10

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing except for the time it took me to write this. :) 

Puppet Master Chapter 10 - Connections 

---- 

When the four awoke, they found themselves in a place they knew, but didn't know. 

It was a spacious palace, walls gleaming silver and empty of all other life. Tapestries that must have looked splendid years before were nothing more then torn rags on the wall, their ragged ends testifying for the years they spent in disuse. Silvery lights glowed eerily from tall, tall lamps, shading the place with a haunted look to it. Moths danced around the light's glow, testing to see how close they could go before getting burned. Dust clogged up the air, moving in time with the group's footsteps. Layers of dust carpeted the floor, hiding the marble strips' true color. 

Doors opened before them, creaking with delight from use. Everywhere was coated by the same haunting look, the same light and confirmed the same abandonment. In one room, glittering children's toys and dolls scattered the floor. In another, the walls were covered with maps and strategic plans. Huge conference tables grayed in another and the rooms continued on and on… The halls were stained with dark splashes, nearly completely covered by years of grime. The color of the stains was a suspicious and rusty brown, almost like old blood. A lingering melody whispered through the corridors, its wispy noise frightening the group more then anything else. 

The hall opened up to a huge room, as inviting as death itself. It looked to have been a garantual cout hall, the remains of a party still littering the floor. Glitter and dead, rotten flower petals crinkled beneath their feet. At the front end of the room, huge marble stairways lead up towards a raised podium. The stairs were fractured and creaked under the gang's weight.

The podium seated two elegant chairs, the seats decorated by a mass quantity of gems, fine medals and embroider arts. Glasses of champagne quivered from their resting-place on the floor as the group came up the stairs. All around the thrones were roses, their once fawn-white tips shriveled into black powder. 

The group gave each other a look and walked back down the stair to the courtroom, frightened by the implications of everything. It was obvious that this place had once been an enormous mansion, perhaps once even a lustrous palace. To think that such a place could be brought to such utter ruin…A barely open door at the side of the hall caught their attention and they moved as one across the dust-covered floor. 

Inside the room, huge realistic prints of men in their prime gathered dust on the walls. All the men looked the same: fair features, light skin and a smiling, serene face. The men also wore crowns of crystallized silver. In the middle of each crown, what looked to be a suspicious copy of the Silver Crystal twinkled on the landscape. 

The pictures formed rows along the walls, starting from an aged painting to one that looked days old. The last in line was a young man, features somewhat darker then all the rest. 

He was smiling, a cunning and intelligent look in his eyes, as light brown hair, cut into an orderly style, grazed his skull. His chin was a bit pointed and rather then a serene expression, his face was settled into a more…worried appearance.

Beneath his picture read the name King Trieze. 

"Is it just me or…" Jupiter broke the silence guardedly, staring up at the picture.

"He's a king?" Mercury whispered with wide eyes. 

"That guy, he isn't the same person can he? He can't be a king!" Venus breathed quickly. 

"But it's the same one," Mars replied thoughtfully. Her eyes half-closed. "What was he king over?" 

"His rule was not as peaceful as his father's," a voice from behind explained. 

Sailor Venus turned first, finding only empty air. The Scouts looked around the room warily, searching for the person who spoke.

"It was during his reign that the Dark Kingdom attacked. He tried his best to keep them away, but he wasn't able to do it alone," the voice continued. Still, everywhere they looked showed nothing but an empty room. 

Venus looked back to see a young man standing before the picture, gazing up at it with a hint of remorse in his eyes. It was the same person who had attacked them. His cloak hid most of his body and he gave off a…lonely feeling. 

"Who are you?" she demanded, powering up for battle. "You call yourself Heero but that's just a name." 

"I thought Trieze said there was no power during training?" Heero replied. With an effortless motion from his hand, Venus's power went out. The others' also felt their powers being whisked away. The Scouts scooted back, keeping their eyes on him. Heero looked back to the picture. He shuddered lightly and looked back at them with bright blue eyes. Mars narrowed her eyes, sensing a change. "How good are your memories of the Kingdom?" he asked softly.

"The Moon Kingdom?" Mercury ventured. Heero nodded. "How do you know of the Moon Kingdom?"

"I have been there," Heero replied quietly. The girls stared on in shock. "If you do not believe me, what would you have me do to gain your trust?"

"What…do you remember of the Kingdom?" Mercury asked excitedly, her voice tight. "I myself do not remember much except for the times Queen Serenity personally awakened some memories." Her friends gawked at her and the trust she was placing in their enemy.

"You want me to share my memories?" Heero asked wryly. At their nods he shook his head. "I can do much better then that." The room shifted and Heero's form faded before being replaced by someone else. It was him but…not. 

Instead of cloaked beneath a mysterious black mantle, he now wore a white tuxedo. Tinges of silvery coloring brightened the tux's edges. A white shirt was beneath the tux's jacket and a silvery jet-colored belt was on his belly. A long, deadly sword was clipped onto his belt, the hilt covered in dark spirals. He wore it casually, hand gripped about the hilt in a familiar sense. Everything about him was casual, the cuffs of his suit undone and the jacket let loose. A thick chain ran around his neck where a single pendant hung. It was shaped in the shape of a flat, many-pointed star. Though the edges were the slightest bit tinted by black evil, the cut of the design was like unto the Crystal itself. His soft white pants hid black shoes. The change from the dark clothing of before to the light, elegant clothing he wore now was as refreshing as it was confusing. His face, likewise, had changed. Instead of the longer, messy dark brown hair he'd sported before, it was now combed and cut back into a carefree style. The scars that had strengthened the feeling of melancholy he once gave off now shivered and disappeared, leaving his beautiful face free of the lines of worry, hate and violence it once held. A single silver earring punctured his left ear. The earring was a round circle but two drops of tears hung from it. 

Seeing them, he bowed low. Straightening, Heero smiled and motioned for them to come. "Heero wants you to see this place before it became as it is now." The youth chuckled. "I think he's beginning to change. Under my influence, of course. I never thought he'd get this far."

"Y-You're not Heero?" Mars asked in confusion.

"Oh, that's right. You don't remember much, do you," he asked sadly. His eyes locked with Mars. "None of you have changed, though. My name is Astral and, in a sense, I am Heero. Or, at least what he use to be." Astral shook his head miserably. "He has changed too much for us to be the same person right now." 

The girls blinked in surprise. "That's…not really all that helpful," Venus said with understandable confusion.

Astral shrugged. "I really can't tell you more then that." He pointed up ahead. "I'll show you the last night of the Moon Kingdom's rule."

The Moon Kingdom's Palace rose before them in its entire splendor. Fireworks went off in the distance, illuminating space with beautiful colors of light. People could be seen, laughing and dancing the night away as enchanting music played. 

"You wanted me to share my memories," Astral whispered. "But I can give you back the piece of yourselves that has been missing since the beginning."

At once, the four Sailor Scouts saw themselves, enjoying the evening with the court. Mars, her long dark purple hair streaming in the wind, laughed and gently leaned in to steal a kiss from her beloved. All that could be seen of the man she cuddled against was his white-gloved hands and a hint of a purple uniform. 

Jupiter was lying in the grass, flowers blowing nearby. Her eyes were closed and her head rested in the lap of her lover. His hands played with her brownish-pink hair, causing her to giggle with delight. 

Mercury sat on a swing, staring into space as she was being pushed back and forth by two similar gloved hands. The swing stopped as his mouth descended to claim her lips, their hands intertwined with each other. Her dark blue hair covered the kiss, hiding them away from the world. 

Venus was high in a balcony, combing her long golden hair when she felt his hands stop her brush. She squealed in delight and turned to crush her body against her lovers, ignoring her duties this one time and relishing the night. 

The memory brushed away with the wind. The Sailor Scouts paused to gaze at Astral with confusion. "What was that?" Venus asked at length.

Astral laughed magically, his voice coming in with a faded quality. "It was you, of course."

Serenity walked into the court, her eyes swelling with tears at the thought of her fiancé leaving yet again to fight. Her silver hair pooled to the floor, tailing behind her. She entered the court hall with polite dignity, smiling with the duty her birth granted. As dignities passed by, the mask she wore fell to reveal the deep sorrow she felt. Serenity sighed and began to walk away. A masked man stepped before her and, with a smile expressing more joy then words could allow, the two began to dance. Their whispery conversation was hidden by the hordes of people, content to collect in a circle around the two in quiet admiration of the mystical dancing. 

Far, far away, Beryl stepped away from the gardens with a self-satisfied smile. With a gnarled hand, she motioned eight bodies away. The bodies winked and wrinkled away. Beryl glared at the spot where the bodies had once been before throwing the thought away with an impervious shrug and heading away from the party. 

At once, the Scouts and their four lovers stopped all activity and, with a whispered word, the four hidden men flashed away. The Scouts headed back to their own duties, concern illuminating their individual faces. They never saw the four generals appearing before Beryl, each being struck down to bent knees and being forced to accept her as they opened the gates to the Kingdom. Hours passed in the twinkling night before Beryl struck. 

Astral froze the time and left them floating in the cool reaches of space. "Heero wanted you to see the Kingdom but you're not ready for it."

"Was that-" 

Astral nodded, his cheerful demeanor appearing again. "It was the night of the attack. I could replace all your memories but I doubt Pluto would allow me to. Besides, you're not supposed to know until later." 

Venus gazed at the floor. "How did you know? Of the Kingdom I mean?"

"Which?" 

"Which what?" Jupiter asked. 

"Which Kingdom do you want to know about?" Astral replied with a shrug, his manner teasing. He continued on with a mock-haughty voice. "There are so many I could tell you of-"

"The Moon Kingdom," Mercury answered a smiled tugging at her lips. She was beginning to grow fond of this Astral. Jupiter's and Mars' twin grins showed that they too felt the same.

"No, wait. You said that Heero wanted us to see _the_ Kingdom," Venus objected. "What Kingdom was he talking about?" 

"The Star Kingdom, of course," Astral answered. "That is _his_ Kingdom after all. Mine as well." 

"_HIS?_" Jupiter gawked. 

"Heero's a prince?" Mars said shocked. 

"It would explain his powers…" Mercury speculated, thinking with her calculating mind even in the present conditions. Three sets of eye set on her incredulously and she blushed. "Sorry."

"What's the Star Kingdom?" Venus wondered. "It sounds familiar somehow." 

"I'm surprised you're the first to recognize it, Princess," Astral congratulated. "You had the least connection with it." He turned to the others. "Your brothers were sent here for training. Unlike the Moon, woman and men hold the same amount of power here." 

"Brothers?" Jupiter asked incredulously 

"Yes. Your brother named Callous known today as…Trowa, I believe, was sent here. Jupiter's people are extremely strong. Callous- I mean Trowa was a good friend of mine." 

"Trowa?" Jupiter whispered. 

"I had a brother?" Mercury asked, her voice lit with wonder. 

Astral nodded his head respectfully. "Yes. His name was Rue. He wasn't your true brother but was adopted into the family. You two were close, I remember," his voice trailed off, eyes twinkling. "He kept our group out of trouble." Astral's eyes closed. "He's now known as Quatra." 

Mars opened her mouth to ask but Astral intercepted her with quick, "Yes. You had a brother as well. His name was Kiln. And you remind me of him. He came from Mars as the sole survivor of his House. Had it not been for your family, he would have been forced from the planet in an attempt by the other Houses to gain the throne. When you see him again, he'll be called Wufei." 

Astral cleared his throat. "I think that it's still too soon for you to see the Kingdom. And Heero has brought you here to train." 

"Is that what our brothers did, when they were sent here?" Astral nodded, smiling at the Princess of Mercury. 

"Then why did he attack us? Why didn't he just explain?" Venus questioned. "

"Yea. If he'd tried to explain it first, I bet we'd-" Jupiter began. 

"We'd probably attack him, thinking he was some enemy," Mars finished. She nodded. "I understand now." 

"Your understanding has not changed, Sailor Mars," Astral commented. When she stared at him in question, he continued, "You're the Scout of War. Your understanding of war has increased since I last saw you."

"Queen Serenity once called me that," Mars murmured. 

"Was our hair-Did we really look like that?" Mercury asked. 

Astral smiled teasingly. "Your hair will probably begin to change soon. Perhaps when you're training and- training! You have to start soon!" 

The world began to fade again and they found themselves in the same room as before. Two voices were arguing about something and Astral's disappearing from could be seen wildly motioning to someone, an angry expression on his face. With a resigned sigh, the prince disappeared completely and the room seemed to shift. The Scouts blinked and everything seemed to be back to normal. The Scouts were back in the room they were exploring before meeting with Heero. The portraits glared at them, as though the long-dead men disapproved of their activities.

Except this time, no dust clogged the air. Everything looked perfectly clean, taken care of in the best way. The Scouts wandered around the room, staring at what had become of the barren wasteland. Everything was completely clean. It was like every bit of dust had been forcibly scrapped off. The two podiums that had stood, empty and forlorn now glittered and the cushioned velvet propped itself up with dignity. Guards stood at attention, backs stiff and eyes hard. It wasn't too difficult to guess what they were guarding. The podiums held two separate crowns of glittering gold and gems without end. 

One crown was clearly made for a woman. Nine pointed rods stuck out from a round centerpiece and were connected by strings of small, delicate pearls. The rods ended in stars and twinkled musically from their resting position. The crown itself was a light hue of gold, shiny and glossy in a clean, clear way. In the base, blood-red jewels and dying purple amethysts carved out a foreign title in a sweeping language. The language looked simplistic in its refined ways, imbued with an easy tongue that seemed to be the combination of all the Moon Kingdom's languages-or the base of them. 

The other crown was sturdy and mannish in its design. Spiked serpents slithered on top of another title in the foreign tongue, this one carved by glittering black gems and silver streaks. It was also made of what looked to be pure gold but a darker, redder version. The serpents' eyes glittered devilishly from their positions, eyes made up of crimson stones. Set in the middle of this crown, like in the pictures, was a stone cut into the design of a broken diamond, sprinkling the room with light. It was as though the Crystal had been stolen to be placed among the slithery snakes.

The Scouts watched the crowns a moment more when they heard music playing from outside. Exchanging a look, the Scouts pushed the door open and stepped into the hall. People were dancing and singing to the captivating melody that came from the throats of a group of women at the foot of the stairways. The entire room was filled with noblewoman and noble men, all dressed in exquisite designs bragging of each noble's wealth. The room also held a mist-like quality, the source found as Venus accidentally bumped into a butler carrying a tray of food. She went right through him.

"Everything's fake," Mercury observed, stepping through a few people herself. Her face took on a concentrating expression.

"Weird," Venus muttered, stepping away from the butler who continued walking around the room. 

"What's going on, do you know?" Jupiter questioned, stepping back from walking groups of aristocrats sauntered her way.

"No clue," Mars answered. "But it doesn't hurt so don't worry about it."

"This is all an illusion," Mercury concluded, her computer beeping silently as she conducted speedy tests on the ghosts. "My guess is that this is the Star Kingdom."

When the group of young women at the foot of the stairs stopped singing, everyone stopped to applaud them. The girls blushed and stole away into the night.

Taking the opportunity to examine what they could, the Scouts wandered the room. Everything was like it was when they first came, except instead of being old and decayed, everything was in perfect order. The air twinkled as glitter sprinkled the air and flowers scented the room from high above, roses and blossoms caught up high in a net to sprinkle fragrances onto the crowds. Nobility drank wine from the very glasses they Scouts saw in what must be the future, the same designs imprinted onto the glossy surfaces. And the marble stairways, instead of being cracked and broken now stood radiant against the lighting.

The King and Queen lounged in their chairs high above, drinking champagne and conversing with a group of young men. King Trieze was easily identified from the man in the picture. From the door, Astral strode out and purposefully walked to the King. His body glided through the Scouts, a transparent illusion of a past memory.

Trieze, seeing his son coming, excused himself and walked to the youth. The sounds of enjoyment and laughter covered the two's discreet conversation but couldn't hide the haunted look of weariness that contorted the King's face. The two nodded and went their separate ways. 

The Queen watched from her seat with sorrowful eyes, her light brown hair falling just past her shoulders. Straightening, she politely dismissed the crowd from the podium and waited for the King. The Queen wore her hair up in two buns on either side of her head, the curves decorated by an array of small pearls. Her dress was a light yellow color, setting off pale olive skin. From behind her, what could only be a princess walked. The princess had blooming scarlet hair and had the same colored dress on her young body. Looking to be about ten, the red-haired princess gazed at Trieze with a knowing look and whispered something into the Queen's ear. The Queen nodded and smiled lovingly into the girl's face as she walked away.

From the group of women singers, two young ladies glanced at each other warily. One had sun-blonde hair that fell to her waist. Her garb was simple yet fashionable and the way the crowds humbly bowed to her passing body gave her away as one of high station. The other had a near-white blonde hair color, also the same length. Her eyebrows were her most striking features, shaped into an accusing curve cut into two different points. It looked as though someone had taken them and yanked them apart, halfway tearing them in two when they stopped and left the pieces dangling. 

As they walked further away, their departure went mostly unnoticed by all but three other women. All three wore uniforms. One had her brown hair down in two braids that fell from her shoulders and down her chest. Her arms were folded and she watched to see if anyone else saw them. Another had short blue-black hair, cut short with a stern expression. The dozens of honors pinned onto her uniform marked her as an officer of high rank. The last also had blue-black hair but was smiling cheerfully, waving to the people. Her hair fell around her face, short but carefree.

The five met together and talked silently among themselves. Their activities drew the attention of the four Scouts who wandered over to listen.

"What do you think Prince Astral has discovered?" the girl with the frightening eyebrows asked, leaning with one hand against a nearby wall. Her face was utterly expressionless, attention focused completely on the glass of wine in her hand. If the Scouts had not seen her speaking through the corners of her lips, it would be as though the questioned was asked from nowhere.

The first girl, the one of high rank, took up a similar appearance, faking nonchalance. "My brother has probably got more news on the Dark Kingdom."

The brown haired officer took a sip of her wine, pausing mid-sip to say, "I've heard that the Moon Kingdom has invited the Star Kingdom over for a dignified tour of their new palace." She continued drinking before again pausing to continue, "They wish to show off their newfound wealth of Earth."

Closing her eyes and slightly nodding her head in time with the music, the older officer muttered, "When did you get this Sally? When will the rest of us be informed?"

"Not for awhile. Not even the King knows of it yet," the brown-haired woman replied.

"It could be a trap," the last girl objected softly. All conversation stopped as a waiter walked by, proposing drinks. The girl smiled graciously and took one of the offered cups, saying nothing but the smile on her face. They didn't continue until it was clear. "The last time one of our Kingdom went they…"

The statement was left open. Sally coughed gently. "Cosmos, what does your brother think?"

Astral's sister shrugged, eyes tense. "He won't talk to me. Not yet, anyway. Wait…oh, he says we will be going soon. Within the hour. He says no more other then he and his circle will discuss it."

The dark haired officer's eyes shot open. "We can't! It's not safe! The Kingdom will strike anytime."

"Calm down Lucrezia," Cosmos murmured. A smile lit her young face and she turned it down into her glass. "My brother comes for you."

Lucrezia stiffened before touching her face nervously. A lone man walked up to her. He had long, flowing platinum hair and a pale complexion. His dressings made him out to be one of high stature or class in this place. Dozens of honorary medals hung on hid silver jacket. He bowed to her in askance and her face lost all lines of worry as the two danced in the crowd, dancing as one to the delight of all in witness.

"Did Astral say anything else?" The one with whitish blonde hair asked Cosmos. 

Cosmos smiled. "Only that another asteroid approaches. If anyone wants supplies or more jewelry, he says they should be there soon." The four laughed quietly before breaking up and going their separate ways.

From the audience, a young woman with jet-black hair running to her knees narrowed her eyes. She wore the customary garb for Mars, a blood red dress covering her body and long black sleeves covered with words of magic. Long slits revealed slim legs and her olive skin contrasted with the pale beauty of the Star Kingdom. One hand gripped a long, honorary sword, its metal turning red-hot. Her hair shimmered and she was lost to the crowd.

As Astral walked away, a group of four young men joined him. All wore different colored suits in honor of their homelands. 

The first wore a dark green suit. His coarse brown hair covered half of an expressionless face. 

The second wore a deep blue vest with beach colored pants. Soft blonde hair fell around his angel-shaped face. 

Deep, fiery red that looked like live fire was the color of the third's. His black hair was gelled back into a severe style that matched his angry expression. 

The last was smiling and laughing but he wore the colors of devastation- a destructive dark purple. A lone brown braid swung in time with his movements down his back. 

The group swiftly walked away, leaving the night of merriment behind. 

The Scouts walked from the room and outside. They passed through the rooms of before. The conference hall was filled with uniformed officers, all arguing in a deep and whispering language that sounded like thundering rumbles. Another room, filled with maps and the like was also filled but with darkly dressed directors. They spoke in hushed sounds, the somber language coming from their lips one that filled the Scouts hearts with dread to even pass by. It was as though they were looking into the face of oblivion and knew the end was near. Tinkling laughter floated from children's' mouths in another room, the language matching the chiming jingle the toys they played with produced.

Venus smiled unsurely. "Does everyone speak a different language here?"

"Not necessarily," Mercury muttered. She looked up. "It seems to be all the same language, except for the one those girls were speaking."

"How can it al be the same language?" Mars demanded. "I could've sworn there were at least a dozen languages going on there."

"My only explanation is that the language goes with what the people are feeling." Mercury shrugged. "The children were happy, they talked happily. The officers were angry, so was the language and the directors…"

"What were they speaking?" Jupiter asked. "The girls, I mean."

"Japanese?" Mars supplied weakly. "At least, that's what I heard."

Mercury smiled. "They spoke Lunarian," she answered softly.

"How do you know!"

Mercury shrugged at Venus' question. "That's what my computer tells me."

"So…we all speak Lunarian?" Venus asked. The Scouts remained quiet as they wandered the halls and finally reached the outside world.

There, the stars twinkled so close that their warmth could be felt. The palace was made of mostly silver-like pillars that glittered against the darkness of space. Marble and carpets also decorated that castle but everything was a snowy-white or silvery-pale. Everywhere, the people were happy and carefree.

The castle itself existed in a way none of the Scouts could explain. It looked like it was _floating_ through space. It wasn't connected to a planet or anything at that. It was simply sprawled across the darkness that was space. It was as though space had been turned into a glass world and this place was sitting ontop it. It was like the Kingdom drifted. Space and Kingdom seemed to beat as one in time. The Scouts couldn't believe the size of it as they turned to see the true magnificence that was the Star Kingdom. The palace itself was nearly twice the size of what their dim memories of the Moon Kingdom's palace were and beside its towering silvery walls, gardens, houses, fields, and streets connecting homes with what might be work spread across the galaxy. It was a self-sustaining empire. 

Nearby, a shooting star froze in time. Somehow, people of the Star Kingdom made it across the icy space onto the star's surface. Within moments, a spiraling walkway connected the palace to the star and more people gushed onto it, laughing and enjoying everything. They were a happy, carefree people. 

The Scouts walked onto the star in wonder. Everything was like a golden and silver crystal paradise. Children ran through crystallized domes of a soft rock laughingly, playing games in a foreign tongue. In some places, the crystal was so thick it became a black spot. In others, the children would accidentally run into the near-invisible wall. But never did it hurt. They would laugh and run off again.

Astral stood at a high spot of this, a natural rise in the star's surface. Below him, the group of young men that had followed watched uneasily. Such a display of power discomforted them: it was a show of power great enough to rival-no, pass that of their own powerful Moon Queen. 

From ahead, a chuck of rock headed towards the Kingdom. As large as a house, hitting it looked inevitable. As it crashed against the star, Astral's eyes blazed momentarily, ebbing the asteroid into a thousand piece trail of silver. Astral closed his eyes and focused his powers once more. The star began to shift its course, turning slightly. Satisfied, Astral stepped down and left. A guard, as the prince left, stepped up into the rise to fill the position.

The children ran screaming with delight, to crowd around Astral's legs. Astral and his group laughed and agreed to join them in the game. The children laughed wildly and ran around in a weird pattern, a game of some sort before being herded from the star. Soon, the King and Queen walked out followed by Cosmos, Lucrezia and the platinum haired man Cosmos called brother. Guards formed positions around the royal family and stood at strict attention. 

Cosmos and her two brothers exchanged glances. They turned away but the Scouts caught traces of an unvoiced conversation.

'Why are we going this way Regal?' Cosmos' whispery voice asked the night air.

Mercury started, eyes wide. "Did you guys hear that!" she asked excitedly.

"Telepathy…"Mars breathed. Venus and Jupiter exchanged awed looks.

Regal, her older brother, shook his head almost indiscernibly. 'I don't know.'

Astral's strained voice answered, 'They wish to impress us with their riches, so we will do the same.'

'But this rock isn't anything!' Cosmos rejected.

Astral glanced around. 'For them it is,' was his simple answer before breaking down the connection.

The spiraling stairway to the star was broken off and it was set free from the time entrapment. Still on the palace grounds, the Scouts could do no more then stare as the shooting star took off. Far beyond, the dim reaches of the moon could be seen as a speck beyond reach.

Again, the world seemed to shift and the Scouts found themselves standing in the dirty room once more. Heero gazed at them with veiled concerned eyes. D_ark_ blue eyes, Mars noted, understanding the change. Astral had eyes shaded with light merriment. And they were light blues. As he saw that they were all right, the look was replaced by the apathetic countenance she was beginning to expect of the heartless Heero.

"Was that your Kingdom?" Mars asked lightly. Heero stared a moment before nodding sharply.

"That was my Kingdom before the war destroyed it," Heero's dry answer caught up to their ears. Venus looked around. She lifted a piece of the tapestries that fell around them as though the walls themselves were weeping. "What happened?" "That same thing that happened to your own Kingdom," Heero replied with the same cold tone. "We were attacked." 

"And defeated?" Mars probed. Heero stared at her. "Yes, but the reasons were different. Our Kingdom was sucked away into a different universe and time. There was no one left to defend this place. Had we still been there, the Dark Kingdom's losses would have outweighed the gain of the Moon Kingdom." 

"'Sucked away'? What's that suppose to mean?" Jupiter urged 

Heero shrugged. "I have no idea. I was there at the time." 

"I though Astral said you and he were one?" Mercury reminded. Heero shook his head. Mercury scowled. "The least you could do is tell us exactly when and where we are. It's obvious that you are somehow able to control time like Sailor Pluto can." 

"You can?!" Mars shouted. 

"It's the Star Kingdom's legacy to control time," Heero answered blankly. "The planet of Pluto bargained to borrow the ability in order to get into the Moon Kingdom. Queen Serenity refused to accept them without that ability. They were worthless to her eyes." 

"Don't mess with our Queen," Jupiter warned, angered. 

"How can you call her your Queen when the most you remember is the bits she gave you?" Astral's voice echoed across the empty room. His ghostly body appeared beside Heero, light eyes scanning them with an intensity he didn't display before. His right arm overlapped Heero's left, Heero's arm slightly glowing from the contact. 

"I thought you were dead!" Venus shrieked, leaping back against a wall. Her actions disturbed the dust that had collected and now showered down on her spitting body. 

"I am, in a sense…" Astral answered. His eyes turned thoughtful and he glanced at Heero. "You don't mind…?" 

"Mind what?" Mars asked suspiciously. 

"Nothing, of course," Astral answered with a flourish. "I just thought that sense I know the most out of everyone, at least at the moment, you would agree to follow me into time so that I might train you at a better location." 

"We can't travel through time!" Mercury objected. "Our currant bodies aren't nearly strong enough. Traveling to the future with Rini nearly killed us with the strain." 

"You don't have bodies," Astral whispered. 

"What!" Jupiter yelled. Mars, Mercury and Venus echoed the shout. 

"It's true," Astral continued as though it didn't matter. "Heero killed you-" 

"Why!" Venus turned to shout at Heero who'd begun stealing away to the shadows. "Why'd you kill us! Wait. This makes me a ghost, doesn't it? I hate ghosts!" The blonde leader fell to the floor, crying and whining and pounding the ground in denial. 

"Sailor Venus!" Mars reproached. She glared at Heero. "So, what now? We're dead, we can't do anything." 

"You died after confronting the four sisters sent to kill you by Beryl," Heero replied, voice tinted with reprimand. "Yet without your help, the princess Serenity wouldn't have won." 

"That's different," Jupiter brawled. "The Queen helped us that time. And after, Sailor Moon brought us back to life." 

Astral shrugged. "So?" 

"You can't bring us back to life," Jupiter shot back. 

"Why not?" Astral asked. 

"You don't have the ability," Jupiter answered, unsure. 

"Says who?" Astral pressed. Jupiter sighed and stepped down. "Time is the ultimate ability. That was the reason it was made restrictively for the Star Kingdom. The agreement was that Pluto would have the ability to control time as long as our Kingdom didn't need it. They were also given a set of rules to follow. Our Kingdom raised each generation with exclusive training so that each knew the rules as though they came with birth, and each follows the rules. The collapse of the soul is punishment for those who disobeyed. If they dare disturb the peace of time, the Guardians take back the gift of life from them."

"So you hold the ultimate power over time?" Mars asked, humbled slightly before Astral's wisdom. Slightly. 

Heero's eyes narrowed as though he detected the insolent thoughts coming from her. "We are one with time, in a way Plutarians will never be. In a way, we are above time, entering when we chose to and leaving when we need. But even then we observe the laws." 

From behind Heero, another spirit- a dark, dark one- floated. Mars shivered and try to peer beyond the shroud it hid behind. As though it sensed her spirit powers, the soul quivered and vanished, leaving a chilling smile behind. Mars shivered again and was left wondering what it was. 

Heero didn't seem to notice the contact he had with the otherworldly demon. Or perhaps he had known and expected it. Whatever it was, she had no chance to question its presence before it whipped away and she felt her very essence being sucked away…

---- 

Serena had never felt so good. Or so bad. 

She was lying on her back, the tub's curved surface running smooth against her skin. Playfully, like a child, she began to gather the bubbly water and gently blew it across the room. The bubbles floated with a sinking motion until its fragile surface bumped into something and then it exploded into a thousand small pieces that drifted down to the floor. Sparkles left in the air showed where dozens of the small watery soapsuds had died throughout the bathroom. Serena giggled as bubbly foam glided down on top her head. The worries of the moment were gone and left the teenage girl the way she'd always wanted to be- normal. But…she wasn't a normal girl.

With a sigh, Serena began to scrub her long hair into one giant mass of oozing shampoo. Just thinking about the things she needed to do wrecked the day. Some shampoo threatened to drip into her eyes and she irritably smeared it away with a wet hand. The move only succeeded in spreading the shampoo across her forehead. 

Serena took a deep breath and plunged into the enormous tub. Underwater, she viciously scrubbed at her head and worked the dirt out of her hair. Within minutes, Serena stepped from the tub, shining clean again thanks to her efforts. The weather outside was dreary as usual for this time of year. Dripping rain, a sound she once found so forlorn, now comforted her as it bashed against a window. 

Immediately, Amy's face popped into her mind, an image of the teen smiling happily and asking Serena what was wrong. Serena waved the image away, her mood sinking fast. The thought of what she did, of what the Outers did humiliated the proud Sailor Moon. Ray's behavior was nothing out of the ordinary that day, in fact it had become a sort of ritual for the two good friends. They'd have a playful argument and then be the same friends. Just that…dream. Darien.

The name chilled her for some reason. 

She hadn't seen him in forever but didn't really want to. He was always hanging around with Rini, having fun and ignoring _her_, his girlfriend and future wife. The thought of what he'd do if he knew she didn't even like him anymore…At least, she didn't think so… Darien's voice swept through her mind. _Serena, you know I love you but Rini is my daughter. _Serena scowled. 

And I'm you're future wife. 

The dream she had flashed through her head. Her mother, barely recognizable in the haze that followed every dream…That wasn't right, Serena thought. Usually, when Serenity spoke to her, it was with crystal clear comprehension and the dream would last that way forever.

Drying herself off with a fluffy pink towel and wrapping her hair up in another yellow one, Serena opened the door quietly, wincing at the accusing squeak it gave as she walked into the hall. No matter how many times she came here, she could never get over the amazement the apartment brought her. Huge painting graced the walls with bright colors and sculptures of dancing, happy and smiling people could be seen in every few corners. Giant pots from the Indians were used as mini tables and the walls gleamed white behind paintings done by the individuals living here. 

Portraits of the Moon Kingdom, done off scale and from a dream, gaped at her from one wall and beside it, the painting of her and Darien as the Prince and Princess held their locket tight. The half-forgotten memories she had left of that time filled her with a craving to go back to that time. Pluto already told her such a thing was impossible-just like it would be impossible for her to see her future self. No one can be in two places at once.

Serena walked into the room set apart as her own and quickly changed. Luckily, her parents thought she was spending the night at Ray's like she usually did on Friday nights. They wouldn't worry too much and if they did, she could smooth things over between the family. Once changed into a pair of comfy white pajamas sporting pink bunnies, Serena gathered her steel and searched out the people she wanted. 

Trista sat, meditating in what would be the apartment's front room, joined with two of the four strange boys. One was meditating as well and looked in his element. His black hair was styled back, glued to his forehead to reveal his light olive skin. His features were relaxed and calm, sitting with his back straight up and his legs crossed in an uncomfortable position. He wore what he'd been wearing since Serena had got there less then an hour before: A dark blue tank top with a slithering gold dragon across his chest and a pair of loose white pants. His feet were bare. 

Besides the two meditating, another teen boy sat with his view towards a window. His head was facing the window but his eyes were watching Trista unobserved. His tight blue jeans and dark green shirt contrasted with the light colors from the walls, making him appear odd in the bright room. His short brown hair fell across one side of his face, hiding an eye. Seeing Serena, he turned to watch her. Serena suddenly felt extremely conscious of the bunny pajamas she was wearing and stepped from the room with a blush. Trowa's inquiring eyes followed her all the way. 

Turning down the hall, soft off-white carpet crunched under her feet and she instinctively ran a hand along the wall as she walked, the thumb of her other hand lightly touching her lips in thought. She'd been here for less then an hour, barely said a word to those guys before rushing off to take a bath and yet, it was like she knew them when all they'd told her was their names. Weird, she thought definitely, reverting back to her normal self and forgetting about the whole thing. 

In one of the rooms down the hall, violin music filled the air. The sweet, high pitch drew her attraction, sending her curious eyes looking for who played the instrument. Michelle was standing in the middle of a room, her shoulder length turquoise hair swaying in time with the music, with huge, gaping windows and a magnificent grand piano. The room was completely empty save for the piano, a large dark oak closet and two separate violin cases leaning against the wall. 

Amara was leaning against the doorframe, eyes closed to listen to the beauty of the music as a serene expression covered her face. Both were wearing different versions of a dark gray and green uniform, Amara wearing the male version with gray slacks while Michelle wore a long gray skirt. Both wore long green sweaters. The windows' curtains lay, drawn to the side and the light storm could be seen from its bravura view. Michelle's sweet song echoed through the vacant area, turning into a haunting rhapsody.

Near Michelle, another of the boys sat with crossed legs on the floor, tuning a violin. His sand blond hair covered most of his eyes as his face was turned down and he wore the same colored pants with a blue shirt. When he looked up with a brilliant smile, he placed the violin in position and began to play. The two violinist's music combined into an airy tune, his music lifting her saddening one back into the clouds. They played with closed eyes, both knowing exactly where to place their fingers without thinking of what the sound would become. 

It rose with sweetness and filled the empty room with joy. Trowa, Wufei and Trista crept into the room and watched with admiration as the music swept through the apartment. Trowa stepped to the closet and removed a small, black case. Silver rang softly through the air beneath the violin music as he took out a shiny flute. The three played and performed a musical piece none of the listeners ever heard before but which sounded remarkably familiar.

At last the music died down and, with the sounding applause from the five spectators, the three put their instruments away. Trista watched them with a strange look before walking away to return to her meditating. 

Serena stepped forward to speak with Amara and Michelle but the two had already begun walking away. Feeling the slightest tinge of frustration, the blonde stomped after them but stopped when she nearly collided with someone else. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed as she sent him tumbling back. 

With a chuckle, the braided boy flipped back to his previous position and threw his hair back over his shoulder with an unconcerned expression. "Hey, no problem." 

Serena glanced at him before looking to where the pair she needed to talk to went. Seeing their retreating forms leaving the apartment, she frowned. "Where are they going?"

"Who?" the teen asked. He was still standing there, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck and watching her with an inspecting gaze. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and grinned. "Your Serena aren't you? That Sailor Moon girl everyone was talking about!" 

"Sa-Sailor Moon!" Serena gaped. "How'd you- I mean, what are you talking about?"

"They told me," he pointed with his thumb towards the door Michelle and Amara had just left. "'Course, it was really the Pluto person but she doesn't want to admit it."

"Pluto told you?" Serena screeched. "WHY!!!" 

Duo grinned. "Because we're here to help, I guess. Hey, didn't you say something about a guy named Heero?" 

"Yea, you know him?" Serena asked eagerly. 

"He's the reason why we're here."

Serena turned to see the black haired guy standing behind her, arms folded across his chest fiercely. "Um, hi." 

Wufei nodded once in greeting. Beside the dark haired fighter, the other two guys stood. Quatra smiled cheerfully. "You're Miss Serena?" 

Blushing, she nodded. "Just call me Serena."

"How do you know Heero?" Wufei demanded. 

"Wufei, calm down," Duo chided. "It's not like we're going to get any information if you scare her." 

"Scare me!" Serena laughed. "I'm not scared of anything anymore." 

"Really?" Duo asked with raised eyebrows. Wufei sighed with annoyance and sat against the wall. Duo could be such a child sometimes.

"Amara? Michelle?" a sleepy voice echoed through the halls. A pink haired child stepped from one of the room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stopped short at the sight of a certain blonde female. "Serena?"

"Rini? What are you doing here?" Serena asked with shock. "I thought you were at Darien's. That's where you're suppose to be!"

"I was but…Serena!" Rini ran and hugged Serena tightly about the waist. Serena's maturity had given Rini the impression of a parent, something she wanted now more then anything. "Serena, I had this bad dream about this really dark thing and it was like a cat! But then I woke up. And I would've stayed with Darien but he wanted you instead so when Amara and them came, I went with them and I saw Hotaru again! But now she's gone and no one knows where she is and I think Darien's mad because I left him alone at the park when we were suppose to have a picnic and it don't know what to do!" The narrative ended with a long wail from Rini.

"Shh…" Serena cooed, wrapping Rini in a comforting embrace and slowly rocking the young princess. "Shh, now. It's all right." For a moment, a glittering woman, tall and graceful replaced the blonde with silvery hair flooding down her spine. The woman watched Rini with a loving eye, much to the shock of the four pilots. The enchantment was broken by Rini's loud sniff and it was Serena holding Rini once more.

"Hey, cheer up!" Serena hushed with a smile. "I can think of a dozens things that make you look prettier then crying so come on." Rini sniffed again and looked up at her future mother. 

"Like what?" the princess asked innocently. Serena grinned mischievously. In a flash, Rini's tearful face was gone as Serena's tickling fingers playfully tormented her out of her misery.

-------------------

I'm BACK!!! SOOO Sorry for the forever wait. This chapter's been cut in half so I could post it now- still grounded but hey, no problemo.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER!!! -I wish.

Especial thanxs for all those who are too nice to me. Thanks so much ShadowSonic!!! And everyone else who's given me so many idea about this fic that started out as revenge against my hated rival- my older sister: ~*~Kawaii Girl~*~

R/R -black rebellious.


End file.
